Audio By Carbonatix
The first time I saw the Turtle Creek Chorale, about five years ago, I had no idea what I was getting into. My mom and her friends had an extra ticket, and they cornered me because I didn’t have anything better to do that night. “It’ll be good for you,” Mom joked, as though going to see the holiday-spouting TCC was the sonic equivalent of eating brussels sprouts. Which is about how I felt about it — until I heard those voices. Brussels sprouts? Try buttermilk pie — good for you (you know, dairy and all) and tasty. I’ve been a fan ever since.
So have a great many Dallas music-lovers. In the last decade, the Turtle Creek Chorale has, quite against the odds, become a beloved institution. The 225-strong all-male chorus, led by the dynamic Timothy Seelig, has lost as many members to tragic death as it has gained through perseverance, and it has attracted a following as loyal as dogs and as rich (in cash and generosity) as Midas, trouncing Bible-belt homophobic tendencies by effectively ignoring them. This city loves the TCC, and more than anything loves it for its actual calling card: Those guys can sing their asses off.
A Turtle Creek Chorale concert is a destination event year-round: Get dressed up and head for the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center with your friends or family for an eclectic musical program of classical and poppy tunes, traditional and experimental singing. A sense of social purpose pervades every TCC performance: The group donates tremendous time, energy, and proceeds to different groups and charities, so everyone leaves the Meyerson feeling pretty good about how they spent their evening, their ears ringing with the melodic echoes of a group that never misses a note.
The Turtle Creek Chorale Annual Holiday Concert series is no exception. For 10 years, the group has held these December performances-cum-toy-drives, with a program of Christmas-inspired music that glides along the emotional spectrum between joy and melancholy. If anything, the members of the TCC understand the dichotomous feelings the holidays encompass and treat the matter with thoughtful grace. But rather than swamping the set with too many poignant tunes, the group’s overall angle is cheerful, and this year, for “A New Day: The Holiday Concert,” the guys will, for the first act, don toy costumes and do a little shameless kid-pleasing. This, “The Twelve Days of Holiday Toys,” is in the wake of encouraging the audience to bring an unwrapped toy to the Meyerson for donation to Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Memorial Hospital. The show kicks off December 5, with three additional performances through December 21. The TCC suggests advance purchase of tickets, since the Chorale’s fans line up for this event.
And if the holidays aren’t good for sparking one’s selfless tendencies, what are they good for? This should get you in the right, un-Scroogey spirit.
Christina Rees
