How encouraging, how refreshing, how purely delightful to know not just that there's a town called Brenham, but that reading behind the headlines reveals they make more than champion junior college football teams and ice cream.
The people of Brenham also can be proud of the darn good music coming from the youthful pipes of the Brenham Children's Chorus -- kids whose parents and teachers have taught them there is life beyond tweeting, texting and Facebook.
Come Saturday, the 2009-10 edition of the chorus closes out another fall with a 2 p.m. Christmas Concert at Brenham High School.
Before artistic director Pam Bennett Young delves into the specifics of the concert, a little history is in order -- history that reaches just to 2003.
The Children's Chorus was the brainchild of Paul and Booty Pomeroy. Paul is a former Houston lawyer who opted for the simpler life in Brenham. He and Booty spent summers in Ajijic, Mexico, where the Houston Children's Chorus would make nearby San Miguel de Allende a stop on its summer concert tour.
The Pomeroys returned to their new home in Brenham intent on starting the same sort of opportunity for kids there -- a chorus of future Cubs and Cubbettes if you will.
Paul and local arts booster Allen Commander had their eye on Pam Bennett Young to serve as the yet non-existent group's director. Her plate was full and she hesitated at first, but after Pomeroy gained tax-exempt status and some financial backing, a board of directors was formed and Young answered the commitment with a yes.
That original chorus was formed after auditions by children from both public and private schools in Brenham. The very first performance of the Brenham Children's Chorus, at Brenham High School's auditorium on April 12, 2003, found them harmonizing with the Houston Children's Chorus -- the same group that had inspired the Pomeroys' vision nearly a year before in Mexico. More than a thousand stood in applause of the inaugural show that had followed months of weekly rehearsals.
With the group in it's seventh season, Young still keeps plenty of musical plates spinning as she did back in 2003. While caring for her own two special-needs children, Young is still teaching music full-time at Krause Elementary School, plus helping with music programs at her church.
"Sure sometimes the schedule is a killer," she said. "But the community really supports this choir and we've grown into a pretty large organization."
The chorus started with fourth- through eighth-graders, then added second- and third-graders, and now includes singers from kindergarten through eighth grade. The Children's Chorus numbers about 120, nearly 80 of those in the main choir of older students.
Saturday's concert is called "Memories of Christmas," and Young says it is traditional Christmas music with special arrangements "done in a 'ho-down' sorta way."
"We try to keep our Christmas program full of song that people remember with a little bit of a different twist," she said.
The chorus expands to musical theater each spring with the Brenham Broadway Kids, a group of a couple dozen of the more accomplished singers who put on a performance each April.
Two years ago it was Seussical Jr., this April it was Once Upon a Mattress and Mulan Jr. is the choice for 2010.
"Our theater arts director is married to the technical director at Blinn, so we really have a lot of trained artists working with these kids," Young said. "It's really cool to see this all happening."
So be cool on Saturday -- maybe work in a visit to the "little creamery" before the Brenham Children's Chorus' 2 p.m. show at the Brenham High School auditorium. For more information, call 979-277-6540 or go to www.brenham childfrenschorus.com.
Save the date
* Sunday-Dec. 20: The Theatre Company presents It's a Wonderful Life, 7 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays (779-1302, theatrecompany.com)
* Through Jan. 31: Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History presents "From Earth to the Universe" (776-2195, brazosvalleymuseum.org)
* Thursday: American Guild of Organists presents Advent Recitals, 12:30 p.m., St. Thomas Episcopal Church in College Station (696-0452)
* Thursday-Saturday: StageCenter presents Christmas Belles, a Southern farce, 7:30 p.m. (stagecenter.net, 823-4297)
* Thursday: Arts Council of Brazos Valley presents Carols & Canapes, 5:30-8 p.m. (696-2787, acbv.org)
* Saturday: Brenham Children's Chorus presents its Christmas concert, 2 p.m., Brenham High School (979-277-6540, www.brenham childenschorus.com)
* Dec. 20: Breeze Flute Choir presents its Holiday Concert, 6 p.m., A&M United Methodist Church (696-7607)
* Dec. 31: International Festival-Institute at Round Top presents New Year's Eve Gala, 7:30 p.m. (979-249-3129, festivalhill.org)
* Jan. 4-5: Navasota Theatre Alliance auditions for Faith County II: The Saga Continues, 7 p.m. (936-825-3195, navasotatheatre.com)
* Jan. 4-30: Arts Council of Brazos Valley and Brazos Valley Arts League present the photography of James Magnum, The Texas Gallery at the Arts Council building in College Station (696-2787, acbv.org)
* Jan. 14: George Bush Presidential Library presents Classic Film Series North By Northwest, 7 p.m. (691-4000, bushlibrary.tamu.edu)
* Jan. 24-25: The Theatre Company auditions for My Fair Lady, 7 p.m. (779-1302, theatrecompany.com)
* Jan 30: International Festival-Institute at Round Top presents Synergy Brass Quintet, 3 p.m. (979-249-3129, festivalhill.org)
* All month: Children's Museum of the Brazos Valley offers various programs, including Monday Madness, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (779-5437, www.mymuseum.org)
* Tom Turbiville is The Eagle's arts columnist. He's also sports director for WTAW-1620AM Radio. E-mail him at tom.turbiville@ theeagle.com.
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