If it seems like you need to spend a lot of money to get some holiday cheer, then read on. Six local concerts this weekend in Tacoma, Gig Harbor and Fox Island prove that the holidays don’t need to cost money to be joyful.
The choice is wide. You can hear 71-year-old autoharpist Bryan Bowers play, sing and tell folk stories at the Tacoma Public Library, or get in the jazz groove at Marine View Presbyterian at Browns Point, where the monthly Jazz Live series gets its annual Christmas flavor from guitarist Michael Powers, with Eddy Ferguson on bass and Tarik Abouzied on drums. There will even be hors d’oeuvres at intermission, in conjunction with a church mission fundraiser.
Choral music abounds, with a church service featuring the Dickens Carolers at First Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, and the Illumni Men’s Chorale at Pacific Lutheran University singing a concert called – aptly – “Christmas Should Be Free.”
On Fox Island, you can join in yourself with a “Messiah” sing-along at the United Church of Christ, or in Gig Harbor you can hear the Gig Harbor Peninsula Civic Orchestra play.
Joy and peace are free – and this weekend they come with music, too. Here are the details:
Bryan Bowers, autoharpist: 2 p.m. Saturday. Tacoma Public Library Main Branch, Olympic Room, 1102 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma. 253-591-5666, tacomapubliclibrary.org.
Christmas Jazz Live at Marine View featuring Michael Powers: 5 p.m. Sunday. Bring unwrapped toys and canned food for donation. Marine View Church, 8469 Eastside Drive N.E., Tacoma. 253-229-9206, marineviewpc.org.
Gig Harbor Peninsula Civic Orchestra: 7 p.m. Saturday. Peninsula High School Auditorium, 14105 Purdy Drive N.W., Gig Harbor. ghpcorchestra.com.
Christmas Should Be Free Illumni Men’s Chorale concert: 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma. 253-841-3761, illumnimenschorale.com/concerts.
Dickens Carolers Concert and Family Celebration: 9:50 a.m. Sunday, First Presbyterian Church, Tacoma, 20 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma. 253-272-3286, fpctacoma.com.
Messiah Sing-Along: 4 p.m. Sunday. Fox Island United Church of Christ, 726 Sixth Ave., Fox Island. foxislanducc.org.
Rosemary Ponnekanti: 253-597-8568 rosemary.ponnekanti@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/arts
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