WENATCHEE – A Christmas choir with Bavarian flair from Leavenworth is celebrating its 40th season and performing at Numerica Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. on Saturday, with guest musical artists.
The other Leavenworth-based musical artists include regular collaborators The Bavarian Brass Band; Corbin Welter and Eric Link, with their original arrangements of Christmas songs; and BOSAYA, a Russian-born singer and her guitarist husband.
“It’s a pretty heavy load of music we were memorizing,” said Diane Priebe, 52 of Leavenworth, who is in her third year as a singer with Village Voices, and also is a member on the board.
The Leavenworth Village Voices are “pretty much a Christmas choir,” said Priebe. They practice beginning in August at the Church of the Nazarene and perform until Christmas. That includes caroling engagements, concerts at the Leavenworth gazebo, performances at assisted living homes, and shows at bigger arts venues like Snowy Owl Theatre and Numerica PAC.
Priebe said choir director Mindy Wall “is experienced and puts us through the paces. We have good leadership with her, and a dedicated group” of about 25 singers who share a sense of “camaraderie with the group.”
“We have a real depth of talent and are for all ages. We have older citizens as well as younger ones,” said Priebe, “people who have been in the area a long time, and people who have just arrived.”
Most singers are from Leavenworth, but there are also some who come from Wenatchee and Peshastin, and even one woman from Ellensburg, according to Priebe.
“We will be looking for an accompanist with the choir” in 2023, she said, after accompanist Kumchu Dickenson moves on after this season.
The choir also is recruiting singers to build its numbers back up since “people dropped away a little bit” after Covid, she said.
The “Christmas in the Mountains” concert on Saturday includes a sing-along of the “Hallelujah Chorus.”
Priebe said, “We are excited to spread the Christmas cheer down here” in traditional Bavarian-style costumes.
Tickets to see Leavenworth Village Voices on the mainstage are $12-$22 at numericapac.org.
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