When Northlake Performing Arts Society singers join their voices with the music of the Covington Concert Band on Dec. 5, it will be a collaboration for the record books.
For the first time, St. Tammany Parish will be entertained jointly by its own community chorus and its own community band when 110 musicians — all unpaid and overwhelmingly local — take the Castine Center stage to perform “A Northshore Christmas.”
The two nonprofits have never before performed together, nor has either performed with any other full choir or full band.
“This is exciting for us all,” said Northlake board President Sandy Hughes. She estimates having 40 singers on stage for the show, and the band will have another 70, said its director, composer-music educator-trumpeter Erik Morales.
They are musicians of all ages and all walks of southeast Louisiana life who joined the chorus or the band because they love music and share a passion for performing it. All are talented. Some have studied music extensively; some teach it; some only performed in high school bands or choruses or grew up singing in church. Others are professional musicians with paid gigs. But each of them invests their own time and treasure to be part of these two groups. They are volunteer performers with a powerful appetite to make music.
“That’s the magic,” Morales said. “The people get to watch it for free (which is one of our goals), and the musicians don’t get paid, but they get to perform before a live audience. That’s their big reward.”
Hughes has said, “If you love music, if you love to sing and have joy in your heart, and you want to develop your talent, you should join us. It’s a hobby that you never have to outgrow, and you get to be with people who also love to sing. The whole thing is inspirational.”
The Northshore Performing Arts Society was formed in 1995 by some St. Tammany residents who wanted to gather with others and sing. Before COVID-19 struck in early 2020, the group had 70 active members, but the pandemic almost sunk them. Singing in close quarters was said by the CDC to enhance the spread of the virus; even church choirs were silenced. And by the pandemic’s end, little more than a dozen members were hanging on.
But there was determination in that small group for the NPAS to survive and thrive, said Hughes and board member Tim Ellzey, who has been a Northlake Performing Arts Society singer since the beginning. He says singing and performing gives him an outlet for his emotions, and he never wants to lose that.
“It’s just energizing, any time you sing,” Ellzey said. “You use every part of your brain and every part of your body.”
The Covington Concert Band is a relative newcomer, having only just organized and started to practice shortly before the pandemic. But rather than threaten the band’s existence, the pandemic actually gave this new group of disparate musicians more opportunity to gather, get acquainted, collaborate, and with Morales leading, start building their sound. Band members in a large practice space were able to meet CDC guidelines: checking temperatures at the door, widely spacing themselves out and covering their horns (to stop the spread of droplets). Practices continued.
In fact, the band has grown beyond all original estimates, and grew so quickly that Morales is having to hold it to 70 good performers.
“If we go above 70 people, we won’t fit on any of the stages around here,” he said. “We’re already bigger than the LPO.”
Even so, there is always some movement in and out of performance groups, Morales said, so players interested in joining should check the latest information on the website at covingtonconcertband.org. It is also worth noting that while the band practices in Covington, it is free to perform wherever there are suitable accommodations in St. Tammany.
For its part, the NPAS hopes to grow its numbers as the post-pandemic rebuilding continues. If interested, email the organization at [email protected] or visit the website at npassingers.org.