Choirs Collide: High school conductor brings new opportunities to Christmas production

Bigfork Community United Methodist Church is cooking up their third annual Christmas cantata, this year in partnership with Bigfork schools’ choir director Erik Heuchert

    Soloists Nanci Bain and Holly Wilson practice for the Christmas Cantata at Bigfork Community United Methodist Church Monday night. (Avery Howe/Bigfork Eagle)
  

    Bigfork Community United Methodist Church Monday night. (Avery Howe/Bigfork Eagle)
  

.  

Jordan Neiman, the church’s director, had been playing piano and conducting the choir at the same time and was on the search for a helping hand.  

“I used to direct church choirs for several years, and that’s part of why it felt appealing,” Heuchert said of his new role.  

“I wanted to work with Jordan, I’ve gotten to know him a little bit over the past couple years as choir director at Bigfork... this seemed to be a great opportunity for me to work with him and also direct some beautiful music, which I love to be a part of.” 

Heuchert will join forces with Neiman on piano to conduct the choir, which has made the whole production simpler and fostered growth in participation.  

The cantata has been hard at work since October, with around 20 members including new faces and practiced pros working together to create a Christmas chorus. Soloists will include John Pearson, Nanci Bain and Holly Wilson.  

The church plans to hold its performance during service on Dec. 15 at 10 a.m., with the entire community invited. They are planning for overflow seating this year, as the event has grown in popularity over the years.  

The Bigfork High School Choir will hold its Christmas concert at CUMC for the first time this year on Dec. 17.  

“We’re thankful for the space that we have [at the high school] to perform and that we have sound shells and I provide sound equipment, microphones to amplify it, but it really doesn’t lend itself to a really great performance space,” Heuchert explained.  

Previously, the school choir held their holiday concert in Ferndale at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church. However, the proximity of CUMC to the high school will make the production a lot closer to home.  

Heuchert asked the church that the money he would have been paid for conducting be donated to the BFHS choir fund, which will go towards a spring fieldtrip to Eastern Washington University where the students will participate in an exchange with the university choir. Heuchert also plans to take them to Silverwood Theme Park, where they will participate in Music in the Parks. The program allows school ensembles to perform before adjudicators in the morning, then spend the day having fun in the park. Fundraising for the trip will begin soon.  

In the meantime, the cantata will continue to fill CUMC with music.  

“It’s just community members making beautiful music,” Heuchert said. “It’s a gift to the community, what they can offer. I’ve just gotten to know this choir recently, but man, they’re so musical. I love it. It makes my job really easy.”