UNION, NJ — The Christmas cantata is a beloved community tradition that marks the beginning of the holiday season. A cantata is a collection of songs with some sort of narration. In addition to the Christmas cantata, there’s also an annual Easter cantata.
The performance will take place on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m., at Connecticut Farms Presbyterian Church. Admission is free.
This year, the church’s volunteer choir, featuring professional guest soloists, will perform “Love Made a Way,” a moving contemporary cantata by Mary McDonald, Jay Rouse and Rose Aspinall. There’s also a congregational singalong of Christmas carols and Rudolph.
The event is directed by Dewey Moss, an award-winning writer, director and producer whose career has spanned Broadway, opera and commercial theater. Moss has been a musical director with Connecticut Farms for 13 years.
“When I got there, they had a small presence,” he said. “I set out to improve that.”
Moss was asked by a previous musical director to come out as a guest singer. When that director left, Moss filled in as the pianist. “It grew out of that,” he said. “I had a history with this church. I found the church to be very open, very loving. People are very supportive of the music program. They allowed me to create my mission which is a very open spirit about singing. I focus on the message of what we’re trying to say and the importance of music in people’s lives. I may break some of the rules – I do allow children to sing with adults. I have full families in the choir. We’re small, but we’re very mighty. We want to sound beautiful, but it’s about the message and the importance of music. During the cantata, we have a candlelighting. That’s always very moving. We have a lovely reception afterward. It’s a nice, welcoming Christmas evening.”
With Moss’s direction, the cantata quickly became a nice tradition at the church. “It’s grown in attendance and choir members,” said Moss.
Moss started taking piano at age 6. There weren’t any musicians in the family. He said, “They supported me. I can’t remember a time in my life (when) I didn’t have something creative going on.”
He then fell in love with singing and theater. He said, “In high school, I was lucky and had great training before the ‘American Idol’ days. I was able to work quickly.”
Moss grew up in Texas and came to New York for his Broadway career.
Connecticut Farms Presbyterian Church is located at 888 Stuyvesant Ave., Union. Visit Connecticut Farms Presbyterian Church at: https://www.ctfarmschurch.org/.
Photo Courtesy of Karen Drzik
