04 Dec Telluride Choral Society: WinterSing 2025, 12/5 & 12/7!
Performances of the Telluride Choral Society’s WinterSing 2025 take place Friday, December 15, 7:00 p.m and Sunday, December 7, 4:00 p.m. at Christ Church. Tickets are $20 for adults; $10 for children at the door.
Go here for more about the Telluride Choral Society.
Go here for more about Hal Adler, director of the adult singers.
Whatever its origins – pagan, connected with the winter solstice or Christian, based on the birth stories about Christ – in America, Christmas belongs to everyone: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists. Everyone.
And that means you too.
That’s true whether the very thought makes you shiver in anticipation – or with angst and cold.
Traditions associated with the holiday are secular and universal: mistletoe kisses (from Druid lore); chipmunks and Charlie Brown; secret Santas; gift-giving and store window displays; elves and grinches. It is Rudolph and tricked-out giant conifers, baked ham and chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and one too many tipples of eggnog. The holiday is classic movies such as “It’s A Wonderful Life” and “Miracle on 34th Street.”
It is Telluride’s Main Street all tarted up with balls and wreaths and lights.
Lots of lights.
Including the lights emanating from the stage of the upcoming WinterSing 2025, the theme of which is “Be the Light.”
Light warms. When a person “is the light,” he or she offers a sense of emotional safety — compassion, patience, generosity. Or the opposite of judgment or coldness.
To be the light can mean we offer wisdom, perspective, or simply honesty. It’s not about being right — it’s about making things clearer, easier to navigate.
Being the light is the practice of uplifting others — through encouragement, listening, or simply your steady presence.
“Be the light” is not a command; it’s a gentle calling. which suggests that each of us holds a spark — a potential to brighten someone’s day, shift the energy in a room, or ease a burden. The world becomes better when we let that spark show.
And that spark will no doubt show at for WinterSing! 2025—Christ Church, 434 W. Columbia, Friday, December 5, 7 pm and Sunday, December 7 at 4 pm.
“I keep returning to the theme of this program: “Be. The. Light.” Not simply find the light, or seek the light, but be it. Three small words, each with its own weight. Together, a call to step forward with intentions,” explains adult choral director Hal Adler.
Hal continues:
“Our concert this season is built around that idea—how music, community, and simple acts of kindness brighten the places in our lives that most need warmth. So many pieces in this program don’t just reference light; they embody it. They remind us that illumination comes in many forms: joy, courage, tenderness, humor, faith, and presence.”
At WinderSing 2025, light will appear as comfort, as clarity, as hope.
“Whitacre’s ‘Glow’ is literally a meditation on warmth in the darkest season,”explains Hal.
“Rutter’s ‘Angels’ Carol’ shimmers with the promise of light entering the world.
Even the playful pieces Hal has planned—”Rudolph,” “Frosty,” and the jubilant “Most Wonderful Time of the Year”—celebrate the brightness we feel when joy returns in familiar ways.
“Our Chamber Singers bring a quieter illumination with ‘Shalom Aleichem,’ offering peace like a candle passed from hand to hand.
“We’ll all sing, together with the Choristers, ‘In the Eyes of the Children,’ an original composition from the Choral Society’s very own Dalen Stevens.
“And as we join together in the collective carols, ‘Joy to the World’ and ‘Silent Night,’ and ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas,’ the theme becomes unmistakable: light triumphs. Light connects. Light guides. Light renews,” Hal adds – and continues…
“Each word is deliberate. It asks us not just to appreciate the beauty the singers bring, but to carry something from it. To remember that being a source of light doesn’t always mean grand gestures. Sometimes it’s a look, a word, a hand on a shoulder, showing up when it matters, or choosing kindness when it’s least expected.”
WinterSing’s “Be the Light” is full of reminders of how light moves through us—how we offer it, share it, amplify it.
“Telluride Choral Society singers remind us all that illumination isn’t passive. It’s something we create together, breath by breath, note by note,” concludes Hal.
Be there and become enlightened.
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