Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Match Girl is a story about a poor girl’s hopes and visions of Christmas, while she lights her matches to stay warm in the freezing cold.
The classic is now the basis for the latest concert from the Sea to Sky Singers, who will perform Yuletide Stories on Dec. 3 and 4.
“It was a story that I always loved,” says conductor and artistic director Veronica McPhee.
“In re-reading after all these years, I’ve found it to be quite beautiful.”
The idea for the show has been with her for some time after talking about it with her sister, who now lives in the community and performs with the choir. She later brought the idea up with some choir members over the summer and the group started rehearsing in September.
In part, the Christmas concert is supposed to inspire social change, especially in light of difficulties many people are facing in the community.
“I felt there were a lot of parallels to present-day times,” McPhee says.
“I’m very interested in the arts for social change.”
As part of the event, Sea to Sky Singers will be taking donations of non-perishables, blankets and socks for the Squamish Helping Hands Society.
“We thought this was the perfect concert to make that connection,” she says.
Advance tickets are available, but McPhee says the Sunday matinée will also be a pay-what-you-can event with no suggested donation amount.
The event will feature accompaniment from Jonathan Reich and a few original compositions.
“We actually have a member of the choir that composed some pieces,” McPhee says.
Member Peach Akerhielm wrote four compositions for the performance, and there will also be classic Christmas carols.
The choir is collaborating with Sara Stuart and the Squamish Dance Centre, which will perform to musical motifs alongside the Little Match Girl to dramatize her visions.
Then there is Hans Christian Andersen’s actual narrative.
“We will have someone reading the story,” McPhee says.
Maureen Mackell, executive director of Helping Hands, will be reciting the text.
McPhee said the show will also present the audience with opportunities to sing classic carols, and she likes to think of it as more of an event than a concert where an audience watches the choir.
“I’m trying to move away from the passive concert experience,” she says, citing the choir’s spring performance, Secrets and Lies, which also had interactive opportunities for the audience.
However, she does emphasize that the first half of the show, which will focus on The Little Match Girl, will unfold as a continuous piece with no breaks for applause.
The second half of the event will be lighter and offer the audience more opportunities for sing-alongs.
“It’s definitely more frivolous,” McPhee says. “We provide both aspects of what the holidays could mean for different people.”
She admits The Little Match Girl can deal with some heavier emotions, but she wanted to be true to the original story and its ending.
“I did want it to be striking,” she adds.
The Dec. 3 show is at 7:30 p.m. and the Dec. 4 matinée is at 2 p.m.
Both will take place at St. John the Divine at 1930 Diamond Rd. Tickets are available at Concrete Blonde and Anna’s Interiors.
