Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1922-12-21
THE CHRISTMAS
CONCERT DRAWS
GREAT AUDIENCE

A crowd that overf1owed the
opera house, was brought out by the
Christmas musical which was given
Sunday night under the direction of
Prof. Omar Wilson. Besides every
seat being taken upstairs and down,
and extra chairs brought in and
placed in the front of the auditor
ium to seat some of the overflow,
many people stood throughout the
time of the whole performance.
The first part of the program con-
sisted of Christmas carols by about
100 children ranging in age from
z to 12 years. The way the chill
dren acquitted themselves was a
revelation of what can be done
along this line under the hands of a
competent and ambitious director.
It was worth the price of good big
admittance fee to see these children
watch their director and "hold on"
or '1et go'' of their tones at his
command, all the while maintaining
a correct demeanor They were
perfectly trained and certainly COW
cred themselves with glory and add
ed laurels to Mr.. Wilson who al
ready has an established reputa-
The "three kings from the orient"
Maj. F. M. Kahler, E. j. Arrick
and r. M. Beckett, veterans in the
musical world, sang number with
the children, and in their oriental
costumes helped to make a most
picturesque scene, while the carol
the children with their assistance
sang, was one of the most attractive
and well liked numbers of the pro-
gram. Holy Night, an ever popular
Christmas song, was another num-
Der by the children, and was beau
tifully given, an impressive erect
being made by antiphonal singing,
a quartet hidden from the audience
singing the verses of the beautiful
hymn alternately with the children's
chorus. One of the star performers
in the children's carols was Wayne
Northrup who sang solo, the other
children Joining in the chorus.
Wayne has voice as sweet as a
birds and his notes scared true
and clear and charmed the audience.
The second part of the program
consisted of a cantata, The Story or
Christmas, by Alexander Matthews,
given by the members of the Mus
kingum Valley Music club. The mu-
sic was beautiful and majestic,
bringing the Bible words of the
sweet message of the birth of Je-
sus in a way not to be forgotten by
the people who heard it. The SOLO
lists for the cantata were Mrs. Am
brose Middleton of Mansfield and
Mr., H. C. Betz of this place, Mr..
Wilson the director, also taking a
few short solo parts and delighting
his hearers. The cantata was
splendidly rendered throughout and
reflected credit both on all who took
part and upon their leader. A very
important feature of the production
was the accompaniment, there being
also many lengthy interludes. Or.
Emmett Fayen was the accompanist,
and his mastery Of the piano was
never shown to better advantage
than upon this occasion.
Prof. Wilson in thanking the
audience for their attendance ana
attention, remarked that he noticed
there were "a few" more there than
had turned out to some OF the pre-
vious performances Of the Muskin-
gum Valley Music club, when for In
stance they had practiced long and
faithfully and put on such master
piece as The Messiah, or the tine
popular concert they gave a few
months ago in the. opera house. The
club hopes to put ON more enter
tainments in the future, and as Mr..
Wilson tersely put 1t, they will
want an audience to sing to-" and
no doubt some of those-it is to be
hoped many of them, who attended
and enjoyed the magnificent free
Christmas concert OF Sunday night.
will avail themselves Of the oppOr-
tunity to come out and enjoy the
future programs and incidentally
encourage their local singers to do
something worth while in the musi-
cal line, and at the same time show
their appreciation Of what Prof.
Wilson has been doing gratis in di-
recting these efforts.