By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
On Tuesday, December 19th, the choral group Vintage Voices from The Center at the Heights (CATH) in Needham held a Holiday Concert and Party for all to enjoy. Light refreshments were served and an abundance of holiday songs were sung.
Vintage Voices meets every Tuesday throughout the year to sing some of their old-time favorite songs. Running this choral group is Margie Brodsky and Carlo Cocuzzo who play both the piano and the accordion. For this special holiday party, the group came together to sing a mix of Christmas and Hanukkah songs, including a beautiful rendition of “God Bless America.”
The party started off with everyone singing “Jingle Bells” by James Pierpont with Carlo on the piano. Next was “Let It Snow” by Sammy Cahn, followed by “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Hugh Martin. Carlo then played “Frosty the Snowman” by Steve Nelson and Walter Rollins with his accordion. Everyone was absolutely mesmerized by his talent and they all sang along with him.
Vintage Voices then switched to a Hanukkah song, “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel” by Samuel S. Grossman. Everyone had a blast singing this song with one another, belting out the lyrics with smiling faces.
Switching back to Christmas songs, they then sang “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin followed by the holiday classic, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” by Johnny Marks and Harry Brannon. Each member brought their rendition of this song to life with an upbeat tempo and euphemisms thrown in here and there.
Next on the song list was “Winter Wonderland” by Richard B. Smith and “Let There be Peace on Earth” by Sy Miller and Jill Jackson-Miller. Carlos accompanied the singers with his amazing piano skills, getting each member even more into each song.
The last two songs of the party were “God Bless America'' by Irving Berlin and the Vintage Voices song they created themselves. This song was absolutely incredible and extremely thoughtful of their time spent within this choral group. The beginning lyrics of the song go, “For our gath’ring at the Center / Where a space awaits us well / Where Margie’s and Carlo’s talent show and tell / Sing the Vintage Voices chorus / With our voices raised on high / And the magic of our singing casts its spell.”
Overall this holiday sing-along/party was a major hit with all of the seniors. It really gave each of them the opportunity to reign in some holiday spirit, especially with Christmas right around the corner!