Sisters raises its 'Magical Voices'

The Sisters community raised its collective voice in song and celebration Sunday night in the 12th annual Magical Voices of Christmas presentation sponsored by the Sisters Rotary Club.

As has been the tradition for the past several years, the focus was on Sisters' youth. Choirs from all three Sisters schools offered up carols, while individuals showed off their talents in their own acts.

Noah Eckstine expressed his desire for an unusual gift in the comic song "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," while Lindsey Williams dazzled the crowd, moving from the violin to the piano, accompanied by Judy Smith, of the Sisters Charter Academy of Fine Arts, on guitar.

Katie Stewart sang "O, Holy Night," and Cami Benson's piano skills left jaws dropping in the audience.

George Shackleford was proud of his neighbor.

"Cami's just wonderful," he said.

Shakleford thought pretty much the same about the whole performance.

"This is wonderful," he said. "I brought some boys from Bridges Academy and they're loving it."

Older youths were well represented. Drew Harrison and Tanner Smith offered up "Amazing Grace," and Austin Erlandson and Janelle Johnson performed separately and together. Erlandson's guitar skills drew appreciative murmurs from the audience and their duet on "The Prayer" provided a quiet, reflective moment.

The Sisters High School sextet turned in jazzy renditions of traditional Christmas carols and the late addition of the Sisters High School Jazz Vocal Ensemble created a stir with spot-on multipart harmonies.

Nathan Woodworth brought down the house with a rendition of "12 Days of Christmas" that featured impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Captain Jack Sparrow, Jack Nicholson and others.

The adults got into the act, too, with performances by the Sisters High Desert Chime Choir and the singing group Heritage.

Kristy Brown's An Daire Dancers stepped up the action with an Irish Dance performance and the high school and middle school choirs sang the audience out with "Peace, Peace," which melded nicely with "Silent Night."

The stage was not the only focus of musical talent. Jody Henderson's jazz band performed in the commons during intermission and made a strong impression. The big group played tight and crisply despite having only just started the trimester together.

"They've only been at it for four days with this music," noted Tom Worcester, who has been sitting in with the band on French horn.

Before the performance and during intermission, families got pictures taken with Santa Claus.

The event was ably emceed by Scott Pillar, who explained Rotary's mission and the effort to spread peace and good will. The event is presented free to the public. All the funds raised through program sponsorships are used to help fund music programs at Sisters schools.