New Dominion Holiday

By WENDY BOONE

For the News & Messenger

The New Dominion Choraliers will present their Holiday Celebration Concert on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3:30 p.m., at the Hylton Memorial Chapel and Event Center, located at 14640 Potomac Mills Road in Wood-bridge.

Performing with the group are the Brass Lite Quintet and Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra with a special guest per-formance by pianist Olga Kovalchuk. Tickets are available at the door or from a choir member and are $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and free for children 4 and under. Call 703-590-2147 or 703-590-3995 and visit www.newdominionchoraliers.org.

The Russian-born pianist Olga Kovalchuk will open the concerts with Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons, Opus 37b, No. 12 for December," which was written specifically for children, but is enjoyed by all. A verse from a poem by V. Shukovsky accompanies the title: "Once upon a Christmas night the girls were telling fortunes, taking their slippers off their feet and throwing them out the gate." According to Kovalchuk, the gate referred to a gatehouse of a large mansion. The girls would take off their slippers and toss them out the gate. If a man picked them up, they would marry someday. If a woman picked them up, their fate was to never marry.

Kovalchuk came to the United States from Russia in 2005 and lives in the Woodbridge area with her young daugh-ter, an accomplished violinist.

Kovalchuk has played and studied classical piano since she was 5 years old. She currently works for the Prince William County School System as a bus driver for special needs children. She would like to continue her education and teach private piano to college level or higher students.

Kovalchuk is studying English in the evenings because she would like to be able to better communicate her musical advice to her students, she said. She is enormously talented and the New Dominion Choraliers are honored to have her perform with them.

Talent is certainly where you find it, and you can find it in the most unexpected places, like behind the wheel of a school bus. Kovalchuk was "discovered" by fellow musician and school bus driver Bill Evans, who is one of the founding members of the New Dominion Choraliers (now in its 13th year). Bill describes the first time he met Kovalchuk this way: "She peered into my bus after I returned from a rest break and told me in her best Russian dialect, "Yhey are calling and calling you on the radio, THE RADIO!" Actually, after seeing her striking beauty, I didn't care who was calling me. It could have been the Pope. I would have asked His Eminence, 'Please excuse me while I finish conversing with this young lady.'"

Evans has lived in Prince William County since 1968. He owns a graphic design business called Illustration & Design by Evans Art Studio -- IDEAS -- and has provided local builders and developers with graphics, illustrations, photography and advertising for many years.

Bill was the founding president of the Prince William County Arts Federation. He has received many awards from the Prince William Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Prince William Counsel for the Arts, which is a part of the PWC Park Authority.

He is also events chairman for a local fundraiser called the Prince William County SerenAid/Walk of Fame, which is co-produced by the Woodbridge Rotary Club and the New Dominion Choraliers. Bill sings tenor with the Choraliers and, until recently, was a member of the National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale at Strathmore in Bethesda.

Prince William County is indeed rich in talent, some well-hidden and some not hidden at all. This is a unique time of the year when those talents can be showcased for us all to see and enjoy.

Selections in the New Dominion Choraliers Holiday Celebration Concert include "Gloria" by Mark Hayes, a contemporary sacred choral work with instrumental accompaniment and with harpist David Crookston, "Two A Cappella Christmas Spirituals," "Merrily Sing Noel," "There is Faint Music," "Comin' Up Christmas Time," "Rejoice and Be Merry," "A Family Christmas Spectacular," "Wassail to You," "Jingle Bells Rock," "Angelic Procession," "Button Up Your Overcoat," "What a Mighty Wonder in a Tiny Stall" and "Silent Night." Featured soloist Teresa Pohlman will sing "Virgin's Slumber Song" accompanied by pianist Kathy Tuttle, and soloist Steve Hein will sing "A Strange Way to Save the World," accompanied by pianist John Ford. Small ensembles will perform "Mister Santa," "A Cold in My Nose," "God Rest You Merry Gentleman," "Snow, Snow, Beautiful Snow," "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town," and "Heaven Rejoices Tonight."

There will also be a contest to count how many times the group sings the phrase "Jingle Bell" or "Jingle Bells" during the concert. There will truly be something for everyone ... as well as those hoping to see Santa Claus.

Wendy Boone handles public relations and advertising for the New Dominion Choraliers.