WILLIAMS – A crowd gathered for the last Advent Concert sponsored by St John’s Episcopal-Lutheran Church. The music was performed by Tony Norris, singer and storyteller from Flagstaff, and his friends. Tony was joined by Bill Burke with whom he has worked for over thirty-years.

They were joined by violinist (that’s a fiddle for you rural folks) Elana Gonzalez who has performed with them for about five-years. Tony credited Elana with injecting a classical influence into the group. She performed a beautiful interpretation of Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel and It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.

They even prompted the crowd to join in on their rendition of Come Out of the Wilderness. The author of the song is unknown.

Tony interjected a story concerning his youth as a cowboy in Flagstaff. He had a horrific climate change experience in which a turkey froze solid in the sky and he rode a log down a crevasse to be deposited on Aspen Street in Flagstaff. I know that most people today associate journalists with storytellers, but you will have to get a hold of Tony in Flagstaff to get the details.

The concert series this year was tremendous from beginning to end. This concert was a beautiful end to the series with folk music and music from the Emerald Isle mixed with a little folklore.

Here is a sample of the Advent concert: