Mainstreet Daily News
Like many community choruses the Barbergators Chorus hasn’t performed in almost two years, but that streak ends when they present “Holiday Harmonies—We Need a Little Christmas” at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the First United Methodist Church.
The free concert will be open to the public and is a fundraiser for GRACE Marketplace.
“We are so excited to perform for a live audience again,” said Dave Jacobs, chorus president and interim director. “And what better way to perform than to give a free concert for the community.”
The concert will include the Barbergators, the Phabulous Phlegmtones—a quartet made up of Barbergators members—and On the Edge, a quartet from the Gainesville Harmony Show Chorus. It will feature both secular and sacred Christmas songs, all a cappella.
“We chose the subtitle ‘We Need a Little Christmas’ because as crazy as this last couple of years have been for us, we thought it was a fitting theme,” Jacobs said.
Instead of selling tickets, the show will be free this year. Donations will be accepted and will go to benefit GRACE Marketplace, an organization that provides services to the homeless in the community. The non-profit recently closed its Cafe 131 in September to install a new floor and partners with the City of Gainesville to provide permanent housing solutions for the homeless.
“We think GRACE Marketplace does wonderful work in our community. We’re really proud to support them with this concert,” Jacobs said.
For safety precautions, the concert will be held in a larger venue, which allows for social distancing, and both the singers and the audience will wear masks during the performance.
“It’s been a difficult year, but I think we’re going to come out of this stronger and more involved in the community than we’ve been in a long time.”
The Barbergators Chorus is a chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society. They sing four-part a cappella harmony in the barbershop style.
First United Methodist Church is located at 419 NE 1st St. in Gainesville.