OPINION/COLUMN
Sunday night I went to Carols, Candlelight, Cookies & Cocoa, a performance by our very own Garvin County Choral Society.
The event had many great things - beautiful music from talented singers and their instrumental accompaniment, tasty refreshments, and the opportunity to sing-along myself.
Director Kathleen Carlton and choral society members did a fantastic job.
My only complaint would be that the audience was sparse.
Now, if you are reading this but didn’t know about the performance ahead of time, then you need to make sure you don’t skip over the News Star’s Community News and Events on page 4, updated weekly to let you know when cool things are happening in our community.
I also know this is a busy time of year for people.
However, this is the type of event that we should prioritize as a community. So much time is spent watching entertainment on screens that people should take advantage when live performances are offered right here in Garvin County. This is very high-quality entertainment, especially for a small rural town.
Supporting these sorts of activities with our presence in the audience is key to keeping awesome things happening in our local community.
In addition to being entertaining for all of us, having a group like the Garvin County Choral Society is wonderful for the amateur singers among us. It provides an amazing opportunity for adults to continue using and showcasing their vocal talents.
Too many hobbies are easy to participate in as students through extracurricular activities at school, only to be abandoned by people as adults. Just because one hasn’t become a professional singer, it should not mean they can’t have the opportunity to share their talent on stage as an adult.
Studies continually show the power of the arts on the brain, from lowering stress levels to aiding in memory recall. For people who love to sing, those benefits shouldn’t just stop because they have gotten older and now have jobs and other responsibilities. With all the stressors that come with adulthood, we should all be enjoying more arts rather than fewer.
I talked to one singer, Mary Gowing, who said that if we didn’t have the GCCS, then she would have driven to Norman looking for a chorus to sing with.
How many local singers would have given up if they had to leave the county for this opportunity?
If you enjoy singing and didn’t know about the choral society, I hope you will consider joining them for their spring performance.
I would love to hear your voice among the talents of the GCCS.
Everyone else, I hope you will join me in the audience for Hope Springs Eternal, featuring Vivaldi’s Spring Concerto and Handel’s Messiah. Mark your calendars now for March 29.