Singers Come Together as the Twin Cities Christmas Chorale for a Second Year

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The singers of the Twin Cities Christmas Chorale will reunite their voices for a second year at a concert scheduled for this Sunday. 

The concert takes place at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Liberty Theater in Centralia.

The chorale is directed by long-time Chehalis citizen and former choir director at W.F. West High School, David Judd. Judd has been involved in music and working with singers in the community for almost 50 years and taught choir at W.F. West High School for 48 years. He hand-selected the members of the Twin Cities Christmas Chorale based upon their singing abilities. 

Judd said his favorite aspect of directing the chorale this year is the beauty of the music. 

“Some of these chorale selections are just absolutely gorgeous,” he said.

There are approximately 30 members in this year’s chorale. The concert will feature solos from Kody Huang, Angela Goude Gilbert, and Michael Green and a diverse array of ages from teenagers to grandparents.

Judd explained how the chorale is organized. 

“It’s soprano, alto, tenor, bass. And those parts split so there’s eight parts. It makes a really full sound,” said Judd.

The concert is free to the public. A collection plate will be passed around at the concert to collect donations to help needy families in the area. 

“We take an offering. The offering benefits the Hub City Mission which is right across from the Liberty Theater,” said Judd.



The chorale will be performing 15 songs and the show will last approximately an hour and a half. Some of the songs the chorale is performing include classic Christmas songs such as “Silent Night” and “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” The chorale will also be performing lesser-known Christmas songs such as “Festival Gloria” and “All on a Christmas Morning.”

“It’s just a real joy to conduct this group. It’s especially meaningful to me because some of these singers, I have been working with since they were teenagers and now they’re grandparents. That’s the advantage of staying in the community a long time,” said Judd.

While the audience is finding their seats before the concert, the Pacific Northwest Chamber Orchestra Brass Ensemble comprised of trumpets, trombones, and a tuba will be playing Christmas music. Four of the chorale’s selections are accompanied by a string quartet: two violins, a violia, and a cello. The musicians in the string quartet are also from the Pacififc Northwest Chamber Orchestra. About halfway through the concert there will be a performance from The Two Town Sound Barbershop Quartet. 

The chorale holds five rehearsals before the concert. 

“The idea behind the chorale was that we were going to get people that could read music and learn the music on their own so we wouldn’t have to have a lot of rehearsals,” said Judd. 

He said that the singers in the area are busy especially during this time of year. 

Judd said that the Twin City Christmas Chorale is unique because it gives local singers of all ages a chance to perform and sing with a group. 

“It’s the only community singing group in our area besides the choir at Centralia College. But if you are a singer in our area there are no choirs that you can sing in. There are church choirs but there are very few church choirs left,” said Judd. “I enjoy being able to give them an outlet for singing…the chorale really seems to enjoy coming together to sing.” 

Judd said that the response to the Twin Cities Christmas Chorale’s concert last year was positive and they are excited to be back for another year. There was a turn out of about 100 people, Judd recalled. He hopes to continue the concerts for many years to come.