Every year the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra presents Handel’s Messiah as the musical precursor to the holiday season.

This year will be different. The Sooke Philharmonic Chamber Players and the Philharmonic Chorus will join musically to present Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at two concerts on December 6 in Sooke and on December 7 in Metchosin.

First produced in Leipzig in 1734-35, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio unfolds in a set of six cantatas unified by a Biblical narrative relating the story of the birth of Christ. This masterpiece of sacred music has for centuries been a favourite throughout the Christmas season,

Bach tells the Christmas story to a large extent from pre-existing music. He recycled music he had written in the previous years with a coherence and narrative drive.

The philharmonic players and chorus will be performing BMV 248, Cantatas I, II, and III, under the baton of Music Director and Conductor Norman Nelson. They will be joined by soloists Isaiah Bell, Evangelist, Cari Burdett, alto, and Chalium Poppy, bass-baritone. The programme will also feature Bach’s Suite No. 2 in B minor for Flute and Strings, BMV 1067, with soloist Alison Crone.

For the Saturday, Dec. 6 concert, the philharmonic has joined with the Sooke Christmas Bureau to help with their fundraising activities. The philharmonic will donate a portion of the ticket price from the Sooke concert to the Christmas Bureau and everyone attending the concert is encouraged to bring non-perishable food items or make cash donations to the bureau.

“The latter two points are of course optional, but we would certainly encourage everyone to help make the outcome as big as possible for those in need at this time of year,” says Terry McGinty, general manager for the Sooke Philharmonic Society. ”We would dearly love to see the folks in Sooke fill the theatre for this concert. Apart from being able to enjoy a wonderful evening of music, just by being there they will be supporting this very worthy cause.” McGinty can be reached at 250-642-2849.

Of note, as well, is all of the Sooke concerts this year are at Edward Milne Community Theatre, made possible in part to new sound baffles.        

Isaiah Bell


Tenor and composer Isaiah Bell divides his time between vocal performance and compositional projects. Recent roles include Tamino in Mozart’s Magic Flute in Edmonton, the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John and St. Matthew Passions (both in Vancouver), and Elijah in the Pacific Opera Victoria opera-in-schools production of James Rolfe’s Elijah’s Kite. He also performs regularly around the Island in oratorios, recitals and theatre productions.

As a composer, Isaiah has produced his first two original operas, Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax (2007) and the biblical epic Oholibah and Her Lovers (2008), through Kingstreet Independent Opera in Victoria.

Cari Burdett


Burdett was a prizewinner on many occasions during her vocal studies. She graduated from McGill University on scholarship, then won a postgraduate scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she graduated with a Master’s Degree with a focus on contemporary music.


As a concert soloist her broad range of repertoire includes Mahler’s Leider Eines fahrenden gesellen, Elgar’s Sea Pictures, Britten’s Charm of Lullabies to contemporary collaborations with composers. Cari Burdett is presently studying with Nancy Argenta on Vancouver Island.  


Chalium Poppy


With an expert interest in early music practices, Poppy enjoys a very lucrative career as a singer, organist, conductor, accompanist, and teacher.  He began many of his musical endeavours in the Nanaimo music scene and has since returned to Nanaimo several times to appear as a guest continuo artist with the Nanaimo Chamber Orchestra, and to conduct performances of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Mikado and Gondoliers at the Port Theatre.
Having made his home in Victoria, Poppy divides his musical interests between both demanding performance and teaching schedules in addition to his duties as a member of the music team at Christ Church Cathedral. 
He has appeared as a soloist with ensembles and choirs across Western Canada, including the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra.

Upcoming concert engagements include another appearance in April with The Sooke Philharmonic singing Vaughan-Williams’ Five Mystical Songs for baritone and chorus.


Alison Crone


Alison Crone began playing the flute when she was nine years old and enjoyed playing in school orchestras and bands. After graduating from high school she put the flute away for more than a decade and then blew the dust off her flute and joined the Greater Victoria Concert Band, which got her involved in the amateur music world. She studied at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and attended music camps run by the West Coast Amateur Musicians’ Society. 


Crone considers herself extremely fortunate to be a founding member of the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra and she also plays with Ensemble Pacifica, the Avalon Ensemble, and other music groups. The Sooke Philharmonic’s Christmas concert  in Sooke on Sat., Dec 6 begins at 7:30 p.m., at the Sooke Community Theatre (EMCS).

The Metchosin concert on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 2:30 p.m. will be performed at St. Mary of the Incarnation, 4125 Metchosin Road.

Tickets are available in Sooke at Shoppers Drug Mart, South Shore Gallery, Wood Travel, in Metchosin at the Metchosin Country Store, as well as at the door for both venues. Info: 250-642-2849.