By Loni Nannini
Special to the Arizona Daily Star
It’s the most wonderful time of the year and Sons of Orpheus has a special present for Tucsonans.
Tucson’s male choir will give the gift of song at two concerts: The 19th Annual Holiday Benefit Concert and Food Drive for the Community Food Bank and the 20th Annual “Christmas at San Xavier” to benefit the restoration and preservation of the Mission San Xavier del Bac.
The chorus was founded “to fill a void” 26 years ago by tenor Grayson Hirst, a recently retired professor of voice at the University of Arizona whose career included more than 70 major roles and performances throughout the United States and abroad.
“The Orpheon movement began in the 19th century in Europe when millworkers and factory workers and coal miners all came together to sing and enjoy brotherhood and friendship. There was no male voice choir in Tucson when we began and I thought it was something that was important for the musical life in our community,” said Hirst.
Since then, the choir has thrived. It has completed five European tours and a tour of Mexico and has performed at the White House and the Vatican. Comprised of 45 active members, it presents more than 20 concerts each season and collaborates with groups such as the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus, the Tucson Girls Chorus and many UA soloists and musicians.
Over the years, Hirst said it has earned a reputation as “the chorus that cares” for its gratis work to benefit local nonprofits and music scholarships.
“We think it is important to reach out to the community. There is a lot of taking going on and there can always be more giving back, especially at this time of year. It is a way of saying thanks for our blessings, which are manifold,” said Hirst.
Contact freelance writer Loni Nannini at ninch2@comcast.net
Sons of Orpheus concerts
The 19th Annual Holiday Benefit Concert and Food Drive for the Community Food Bank
When: 7 p.m. Dec. 7
Where: Berger Center for the Performing Arts, 1200 W. Speedway.
Cost: Free with a nonperishable food item and/or tax-deductible monetary donation.
The benefit has raised more than $82,000 and four tons of food for the Community Food Bank over the years. The program features the Sons of Orpheus and students of the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind along with special guests Soprano Lindsey McHugh, Violinist Kai Skaggs, Pianist Brent Burmeister and El Mariachi Tapatio.
For information, visit www.sonsoforpheus.org or send an email to contact1@sonsoforpheus.org
20th Annual “Christmas at San Xavier” featuring the Sons of Orpheus in collaboration with the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus
When: 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Dec. 13-15.
Where: Mission San Xavier del Bac, 1950 W. San Xavier Road.
Cost: $100 per person; advance ticket purchase required.
Sponsored by the Patronato San Xavier, the concert has raised more than $2 million over the past two decades to benefit the restoration and preservation of Mission San Xavier del Bac.
For information, or to purchase tickets, visit the Patronato San Xavier website at www.patronatosanxavier.org/tickets/ or call 262-4441.
A special “Christmas at San Xavier” concert featuring the Sons of Orpheus, the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus, the Tucson Girls Chorus and renowned Native American Flutist R. Carlos Nakai is also available at 4:45 p.m. Dec. 12. The benefit begins at the Arizona Inn with drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres and includes transportation to and from the mission. Cost is $250 per person. Tickets can be purchased online at www.patronatosanxavier.org/tickets/ or by calling 407-6130.
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