On Friday the 14thof December after the eve-ning Mass, Calvario parish held its annual Christmas concert. During this special event various coral groups within the church sang a medley of popular carols and festive songs.
The Church was brightly decorated in seaso-nal hues of rich red, green and gold and was inundated with light from the flickering flames of the Advent candles and glistening ornate Christmas trees which were placed on either side of the altar.
The Sierra Blanca choir were the first to par-ticipate, dressed in authentic pastoral outfits consisting of jodhpurs, black riding boots, green berbers and felt hats, adorned with sprigs of pheasant feathers. This particular group are well known throughout the province of Mala-ga and have a unique sound with much use of percussion instruments, including drums, and tambourines.
A variety of Spanish choirs all sporting red jumpers and black trousers followed including the talented Family Choir conducted by Mari Luz and the Rocieros choir directed by Pilar. The International choir wore the traditional Celtic colours of emerald green and deep pur-ple and sang Bing Crosby’s White Christmas and Boney M’s “Mar y’s boy chi ld”, guided by their guitarist Steve.
The high light of the evening had to be the pro-fessional tones of the Andalucian choir who performed the haunting melody of” Holy Ni-ght” led by the fine voice of a young soprano. This beautiful carol was followed with a mag-nificent rendition of” On My Own”, from the musical “Les Miserables.”
When the carols came to an end, we were trea-
ted to a surprise visit from an extremely jovial and convincing Father Christmas, “ho, ho ho”, who was our own dear Crispin in full fan-cy dress from the parish“ . Blue eyes shining from under a thick white beard with cheeks aglow he entered the Church to the joyful tune of Jingle bells sang by the International group. Cordially, he wished us all a” Very, Very Merryy Christmas,” whilst delivering a heartfelt speech in Spanish and English . At the onset of his appearance the little faces of the children pre-sent shone with delight and expectation.
The entertainment came to a close with a won-derful presentation of the nativity with comic overtones and carols directed by Conchi, who is one of the main co-ordinators of Adorers group of the Blessed Sacrament. The cast were excel lent especially Josie who took the main role as the Angel Gabriel.
Bravo Conchi and Co!
Finally Father Rafael who organised this fes-tive gathering gave us all a special blessing for Christmas and the New- year and thanked all those who took part.
A joyous time was had by all, celebrations con-tinued downstairs with Father Rafael playing a special Spanish drum. A selection of delicious refreshments were served and there was a great sense of camaraderie among the Parish.
Looking forward to next year’s event with great enthusiasm !
Sasha Marsh
