“So! What in the heck is a Zimblestern?” I asked Mark Schweizer, director of this year’s Community Chorus.
He looked momentarily baffled, and then responded in surprise, “Where did you get that word?”
“I’ve been reading ‘The Alto Wore Tweed,’” I answered, referring to one of Schweizer’s liturgical mysteries in which I’d come across the term.
Schweizer, a modest man, cringed good-naturedly. “That was the first one I wrote. I wrote it nearly 10 years ago. You should read some of the others; I look back on that one… well, writing gets better with practice.”
I don’t know; I thought it was pretty great, actually.
We were having lunch and supposed to be talking about the upcoming Christmas concert, but I just had to ask, and Mark went on to explain.
“It’s a stop on an organ. When it’s pulled out it rotates a mechanism that produces the sound of bells… like wind chimes.”
This year’s Community Chorus Christmas concert won’t offer the chimes of the Zimblestern, but the local volunteer musicians and 105 singers, along with their director and their accompanist, Pam McNeil, are pulling out all the stops. Look closely and you may see the choristers singing with their eyebrows raised to their hairlines to help stay on pitch, or trying not to crack up over the “instructions” that Schweizer’s sense of fun has lead him to insert at random in the music, such as “Release the Penguins!” or “Basses – throw Pam a nickel!”
The concert offers a blend of traditional and original. The strains of Donis Schweizer’s violin will soar with the reverence of “Gesu, Bambino.” The Cherokee flute of Bob Child, hand carved especially for this performance, will take listeners on a journey into the deep woods of a Native American village on Christmas night.
“Silent Night,” echoing in German and English, will take you on a journey back in time to the Christmas truce of 1914, as sung by soldiers on both sides of the front line, and the five-member cast of “The Shepherd’s Play – a Pastorale” will take you back even further, to a night on the hillsides of Bethlehem.
Lest you think all is calm and quiet: Beware! The concert will also include the powerful and joyous Calypso carol “The Virgin Mary Had-a One Son,” the rousing English carol “Masters in This Hall,” written by William Morris to an old French dance tune, and the thundering sounds of Scotland’s highlands by The City of Greenville Pipes and Drums, whose former performances include the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville and lead performances for Rod Stewart concerts.
“Notice a theme, here?” Schweizer asked, with a twinkle. Absolutely. No matter the differences in musical styles, traditions or languages, the message of Christmas is meant for all people throughout all the earth.
“That’s what Christmas is all about,” Schweizer said.
The concert, proceeds of which fund the Rotary Club’s college scholarships for high school students in Polk County, will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 11 at the Polk County High School Auditorium. Tickets are available from Rotarians, local merchants, chorus members and at the door.  Student admission is free. It’s BYOZ, though – Bring Your Own Zimblestern.
– article submitted by Julie Thelfall