Lincoln Area Music Society Presents Winter Concert

 

[December 12, 2024] 

The Lincoln Area Music Society (LAMS) presented its Winter Concert on December 7 and 8 at Lincoln Community High School featuring new arrangements of well-loved Christmas songs.

Master of Ceremonies Tim Searby welcomed the audience to the concert and introduced each song of the performance. The LAMS orchestra, conducted by Calob Pluhm, began the concert with a lively arrangement of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” followed by “This Christmas.” A “Holiday Mash-Up” of Christmas favorites concluded the orchestra’s first portion of the concert.

The LAMS Chorale, directed by Dr. Dinelle Frankland and accompanied by Kay Dobson, began their performance with the perennial favorite “Sleigh Ride.” They followed this song with “Love’s Pure Light, Silent Night,” a beautiful arrangement of the Christmas hymn by Joseph Mohr featuring Dr. Tom Zwilling on oboe. The Chorale finished their first half of the concert with the well-known “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

The orchestra began the second half of the concert with the lovely “Celtic Carol,” based on the traditional carol “What Child Is This?” followed by “In the Bleak Midwinter.” They finished with “Christmas Rocks at the Pops,” another compilation of upbeat Christmas songs.

The Chorale took the stage for the second portion of their performance beginning with “What Were You Thinking?," "based on the ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’... well, sort of,” according to the program. It incorporated traditional words and music into a lighthearted update of the ubiquitous carol. This was followed by the traditional spiritual “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” The concluding song for the Chorale was “Grown-Up Christmas List” with a wish for “no more lives torn apart, and wars would never start, and time would heal all hearts.” The finale of the concert featured the orchestra and choir performing together the beloved Christmas carol “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

The Winter Concert was sponsored by ME Realty, Culver’s of Lincoln, Eaton Corporation, and Rohlfs Implement Company as well as many community patrons and other local businesses. LAMS is composed entirely of volunteers, and both the orchestra and the chorale welcome new members. Rehearsals for the spring season begin in February. Please contact [e-mail] for more information. Be sure to mark your calendars for the LAMS Spring Concert on April 26 and 27, 2025, also at Lincoln Community High School.

[Stephanie Hall with photos by Patti Schonauer]