Last Thursday evening - and afternoon, I attended one of my hometown's finest musical performances: The Senior Chorale's Patriotic Holiday. Last spring I posted about my mother and her 60 back-up singers, expecting my small blog-o-sphere to read it. But my mother, as mothers are wont to do, forwarded my post to all her senior hipster friends who are on-line. They forwarded it to their children and wow - my stat counter jumped off the hook for a couple of days. So now I know you've been checking for my Chorale Post. Sorry I've been delayed. This year I am planning to send off a more formal article to the local paper to see if they'll run it. But for now, here on my blog, I will write my more personal review.

You know what makes the Bowie Senior Chorale (BSC) such a delight? It's not just the talent and enthusiasm of the singers. It isn't the ambition of the totally charming director. It's not the nimble fingers of the beautiful pianist Paula Sparks (yes, she's his mother.) The heartfelt solos by Janet Beck and Ernie Wittsey were wonderful, but they weren't the secret of the choir's success. It's not even the amazing talent of my mother. Of course, none of these hurt, but their success as entertainers lies in something less tangible.

The BSC is a joy because of the relationship between the choir members and their director. At first glance, the youthful Craig Sparks might not strike you as the logical choice to direct this venerable gathering of singers: too young, hair too long. But do logical choices ever produce greatness?

When the choir members took to the risers in their red bow ties and poinsettia-ed scarves, their holiday spirit was barely contained. Sparks, wearing Advent purple, was trying to keep a composed lid on his effervescent pride. As soon as they began performing, you could feel their affection for each other.

Sparks and the singers seem to bring out the best in each other as was evident in Sparks' original arrangement of "The Star Spangled Banner." He seemed to have custom composed the piece to highlight the talents of these singers. They seemed to want to show off his talent by delivering his arrangement flawlessly. I'm a believer in singing the National Anthem whenever given the chance. If, however, you ever get to hear the BSC perform their signature "Star Spangled Banner," stop singing and listen. You'll be impressed.

Sparks' other original arrangement, "Armed Forces Medley," not only provided the most moving portion of the show, but also highlighted the mutual delight the choir members and the director share. Sparks introduced the piece with the "juicy backstory" of the rivalries and allegiances that, rather than nearly preventing the performance of the piece, solidified its place in the Chorale's repertoire. I was so moved to see the pride in the veterans in the audience who stood during their branch's song. Dare I stir the rivalry? I couldn't help but notice that the marines, though fewer in number, stood at the straightest, squared-shoulder attention during their tribute.

You simply have to see this group perform to understand the playfulness of their relationship. The director tries to challenge them with Rachmaninov's "Hymn to the Virgin Mary" - in Russian and they heckle him when he can't recall the title of one song in a medley. They jazz up "Sleigh Ride" with sound effects of jingling bells, cracking whip, and even a whinnying horse. Their soulfulness singing "Shenandoah" brings tears to my eyes. The mischievousness of their encore piece, "Your a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" delighted everyone in the audience. No wonder the choir has almost tripled in size since Sparks took over. It looks like so much fun.

The audience's enthusiasm and adoration of the choir was almost total, with the exception of my dragged-along eleven year old son, freshly grounded until Christmas for academic infractions. Ignoring his sullenness, I eavesdropped on the ladies behind me who marveled at the many charms of the director. “He has such a nice vocabulary.” “Look at him move!” and “He hot!” (I think they might have meant that literally, but I know others meant it another way ;-)

I thought of an idea to interest my son. I told him to look at the chorale members and see if any of them looked like what he imagined his schoolmates might look like in 50 years. He sat up. Ernie caught his eye. “That one with the beard is Jacob. Two behind him is Matthew. Next to him, Colin. Over there is Alex.” He saw them differently now. By the time the Chorale got to the Grinch song, even my sullen boy was won over. Now that's a magical performance!