After 10 years of putting on one of Martinsville’s most popular holiday concerts, Pamela Randall is gearing up for one of her largest acts yet.
The Smith River Singers’ Christmas Concert, scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m., will be held at the Galilean House of Worship, one of the largest venues in Martinsville, according to concert director Randall, who expects to fill all of the venue’s 1,000 seats.
“It’s not going to be longer, it’s going to be a much more involved production,” Randall said, adding that this year she will direct more than 80 singers, a far cry from the 23 or so in the concert’s initial year.
An Ohio native who moved to Martinsville in 1985, Randall launched the concert, which has been held annually for a decade. It has become one of the largest events in Martinsville, but it didn’t start out that way.
“I put together a group of like-minded people,” Randall said about the initial concert a decade ago. “We had a meeting and decided to see if we could pull this off.”
The free concert kicks off the holiday season for many in Martinsville.
This year Randall wanted to commemorate the show’s 10th anniversary with a rendition of part of Handel’s “Messiah,” specifically the “Hallelujah” chorus.
Randall said that she doesn’t have to recruit for the concert. Instead, participants learned of it via word of mouth.
Since the concert’s inception, she has wanted to emphasize the local talent in Martinsville and surrounding Henry County. She believes she managed to do that, with the majority of concert performers coming from Martinsville and surrounding areas.
“The Henry County area, in general, has always had a rich music history,” Randall said, adding that performer ages ranged from high schoolers to the elderly.
Randall’s emphasis on local talent didn’t deter performers from outside the region from participating.
The performance will feature a full orchestra with some participants coming from North Carolina and other parts of Virginia.
“There are a lot of talented people doing this,” said Michael Hemphill, who will sing in the choir and drives 90 minutes from his home in Montgomery County to Martinsville for rehearsals. [Editor’s note: Hemphill also writes for Cardinal News as a freelance journalist.]
Like Hemphill, David Garrett only recently joined the concert, this being his second year. A lifelong Martinsville resident, Garrett said the concert has become a big draw.
“I was really proud of how we performed [last year], and it’s always exciting to perform in front of a large group of people,” Garrett said.
He said he hopes audiences will appreciate their performance.
“The main thing about this show is it does a good job bringing people together,” Garrett said.
