Glorious Sounds of the Season is an annual holiday music extravaganza at Chico State. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

The sounds of Christmas were being projected from every corner of the theater—not just the stage at Harlen Adams Theatre in Chico.

As the main stage went dark the spotlight shined on a corner of the auditorium where small groups of performers had gathered. There was no down time, so to speak. There was always something to listen to, someone to look at.

For two hours the audience was entertained by a rather fast paced production of more than 30 songs. I was surprised it went by so fast—especially without an intermission.

The annual Glorious Sounds of the Season is an ensemble of musicians and singers in Chico. Some are college students, some are children’s groups, others are community members who are part of various groups.

The concert is a benefit for Chico State’s Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance.

Featured performers included the Chico State Choral Ensembles, Wind Ensemble, Jazz X-Press, chamber ensembles, and soloists.

Two of the hundreds of performers were in 15 groups, which as the director said, made it tricky to choreograph because those two could not be in back to back performances without causing a delay in the production.

The audience was asked to participate in three sing-alongs: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Joy to the World, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

A dramatic reading by Reace Pudvah of How the Grinch Stole Christmas was a delightful interlude between the musical performances. He read part of this Dr. Seuss book in four parts. It was quite entertaining.

My favorite performance was the piano duo of April Smirnoff and Natalya Shkoda who played a raucous Jingle Bells. Shkoda is a professor of piano at Chico State. Smirnoff is Shkoda’s 9-year-old daughter, who has been a student of music more than half her life. The youngster’s stage presence was precious as was her intensity on those ivories.