St. Irenaeus Music Ministry held its Annual Christmas Concert on Friday, Dec. 6, at St. Irenaeus Church in Cypress with Pastor, Fr. Patrick Moses welcoming everyone by saying an opening prayer to start the festivities. Church pews were filled with people of all ages who came to hear performances by the Adult Choir, Youth Choir, the Young Adult Ensemble, Filipino Choir, and Teen Choir.
For the first time this year, there was a performance of Seal Beach composer Ronda Polay’s arrangement of Silent Night featuring soprano soloist Katherine Burkart and the Adult Choir. There were also solo performances by Paul Cotton on the alto saxophone and a violin performance by Valerie Dato-on as she accompanied the Teen Choir. The audience joyfully joined in singing traditional Christmas carols led by different choir members accompanied by pianists, an organist and an orchestra full of talented instrumentalists.
Highlighting the evening were the guest performances by St. Irenaeus’ priests, Pastor Fr. Patrick Moses, Fr. Thomas Naval and Fr. Daniel Reader. The trio led the audience in singing a Christmas medley of songs including a solo by Fr. Thomas singing a Christmas song in Tagalog. The three priests received a rousing applause as they led everyone in singing the song Amen.
The audience showed their appreciation by applauding each choir after each of their performances. The Adult Choir and the Youth Choir were directed by Kim Wargo and accompanied by pianist Luis Avila. Avila also directed and accompanied the Teen Choir. The Filipino Choir was directed by Virginia M. Coquia with Rhenee Ferrer as accompanist. They came dressed in glittering outfits and enthusiastically performed two Christmas songs in Tagalog. The audience responded by clapping their hands in time to the singing. All the choirs performed superbly and many audience members commented that this may have been “the best concert ever!”
The audience enjoyed the wide variety of wonderful Christmas music provided by all the choirs, the soloists and the instrumentalists. The concert ended with everyone standing as the Adult Choir sang the traditional Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah by G.F. Handel. The choir received a standing ovation!
Director Kim Wargo was presented with a bouquet of flowers by Adult Choir representative Christine Welch. Wargo was thanked for all her outstanding work coordinating and preparing music for the concert. It was a wonderful evening to celebrate the birth of Christ with music and singing.