Standing Room Only

A Christmas concert Friday night was performed to a packed house. Every single seat at the historic Star Theatre in Willow Springs was occupied with concert-goers who turned out to see the free concert performed by the Southern Ozarks Community Orchestra (SOCO) and the STARS Foundation. 

The evening began with instrumental arrangements of holiday standards performed by SOCO and conducted by Jodi Forbes. Several members of the orchestra descended from the stage to perform two songs as a handbell choir.

Arrangements from The Nutcracker followed the handbells. The familiar sounds from the immortal ballet received some of the biggest crowd responses of the night.

Conductor Rebecca Peterson mounted the podium after a short intermission and introduced Handel’s Messiah. The orchestra performed individual selections from Messiah with the aid of a choir seated in the mezzanine of the theater. 

The audience was invited to sing Christmas carols that were intertwined with the arrangements of Handel. The final selection of the night was the “Hallelujah Chorus” of the Messiah. The audience was invited to stand and shout along with the Christmastime classic.

After the last note rang out, applause thundered through the theater. A follow-up performance took place at the Melba Theater Sunday afternoon in Houston.