In children’s stories, anything can have a personality. Animals, toys and even utensils have minds of their own and are worthy of love. As part of their “Christmas with Cantus” concert, the a cappella choir taps into that delight, sharing two beloved Christmas stories featuring toys as main characters, plus a third story about a magical trip to the North Pole.
Amid short narrations of the stories, Cantus performs vocal arrangements of holiday favorites, from classics to folk and pop hits. It makes for a nostalgic experience, stirring the heartstrings as the group wows the audience with their blended voices creating complex patterns.
Chris Foss, a bass and the group’s staff composer, told me in an interview that Cantus selected three stories that connect to childlike wonder. “During Christmastime and winter in general, people are just a little bit more introspective because things are getting slower with the colder weather,” he said.
He’s been lobbying Cantus to include “The Velveteen Rabbit” in its Christmas concert “for longer than I care to admit,” he said. “The emotional content of it is so timeless.”
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The story, first published in 1922 by British-American author Margery Williams, centers on a stuffed rabbit given to a young boy for Christmas. At first ignored, the Velveteen Rabbit is mocked by the toys with mechanical features. Eventually, the nanny gives the rabbit to the young boy when she can’t find his favorite, and quickly our velveteen hero earns pride of place in the boy’s heart.
Throughout the story, the rabbit longs to become “real” (much like Pinocchio and others before him). Indeed, Williams subtitled the novel “or How Toys Become Real.” Turns out love is a necessary component.
As I listened to members of Cantus read “The Velveteen Rabbit” between songs, I thought about why humans are so inclined to seek out love, even from non-human companions like pets, livestock and stitched-up collections of fluff and fur. More recently, people have been developing “relationships” with artificial intelligence models. Somehow, our yearning for love will carve out capacity in the worlds we create.
I did cry a bit during “The Velveteen Rabbit” part of the concert, I admit. I was moved by the story and by the songs the group chose to propel the narrative. Among them was a lovely version of “Nature Boy” by Eden Ahbez, with the familiar line, “The greatest thing in the world is to love someone and be loved in return.”
Foss composed the gorgeous “Perennial Eternally,” and fellow singer Paul John Rudoi composed “How You Are Made,” a work that adds to the story. The group also premiered an arrangement by Yumiko Matsuoka of a traditional Austrian carol, “Still, Still, Still.”
“She’s such a huge talent,” Foss said of Matsuoka. “The textures that she’s put together with how she’s rhythmically put it together — you can just hear the snow falling.”
My favorite of the tunes during “The Velveteen Rabbit” was a song by another vocal group, Pentatonix, called “Light in the Hallway.” The Cantus singers made the undulating melodies their own as the harmonies softly enveloped the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis.
After an intermission, Cantus performed vocal arrangements of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite,” a shorter version of the full ballet.
Without words, the singers channel the instrumentation through their voices in a marvelous spin on the familiar music.
“I think it ends up being kind of cheeky,” Foss said, noting that the arrangers (himself, Cantus singer Samuel Bohlander-Green and former member Alberto de la Paz) “really tried to get as close to the original score as we could.”
What makes the arrangement especially difficult, he said, is that choral music is written differently than orchestral music. With chromatic scales and chords not often found in a cappella music, the team had their work cut out for them. The result is quite a delight.
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Finally, Cantus performed four tunes set amidst the story of “The Polar Express” by Chris Van Allsburg, including two songs from the 2004 movie adaptation. Through the magic of their vocalizations, we can actually hear the train moving across the sky. They also perform a terrific rendition of Taiwanese folk song about a train, “Diu Diu Dang,” arranged by Chien Shan-Hua, and Loreena McKennitt’s beautiful “The Bells of Christmas.”
By structuring their holiday show around stories, Cantus connects audiences to the magical spirit the stories inspire. The real star remains the ensemble’s incredible musicality, but for this show, the narratives work wonders. Cantus reminds us that a simple story can still make us feel achingly real.
“Christmas with Cantus: Three Tales of Christmas” continues Thursday, Dec. 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas (St. Paul); Friday, Dec. 19, at 7:30 p.m. at Hamline Church United Methodist (St. Paul); Saturday, Dec. 20, at 3:30 p.m. (a 60-minute performance appropriate for children) and 7 p.m. at Westminster Hall (Minneapolis); Sunday, Dec. 21, at 3 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran (Stillwater); and Monday, Dec. 22, at Christ United Methodist (Rochester). ($25-$52, $5 students, plus pay-what-you-can and streaming options.) More information here.
Also of note: Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins
If you’re looking for something non-Christmas, check out “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins,” a dance piece by Little Tanz Theater. Based on a Ukrainian tale, the story follows a trickster named Hershel of Ostropol who is up against a group of goblins trying to take over a village. Local dancer Gemma Isaacson, one of Twin Cities’ finest movers, has a lot of fun with the main character, and the whole show is spirited and lively. It takes place Dec. 20 at 2 p.m.-5 p.m., and Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. at Southwest High School in Minneapolis ($15-$25 with a pay-what-you-can option for the Dec. 20 evening performance). Tickets available here.
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