Bay Chorale officially declares ‘It's Christmas’ in Manatee

Paul and Jan Fudally got their heavy red sweaters out of the closet early Sunday afternoon and, just for the heck of it, checked outside their Palmetto house to see if there was any snow.

There wasn’t. But it didn’t matter.

At 4 p.m. Sunday, the Christmas and Hanukkah holiday seasons were officially declared open by The Bay Chorale when its men and women struck the first notes of “It’s Christmas” and “Hanukkah Prayer” during their concert called “It’s Christmas!” at the Neel Auditorium on the State College of Florida campus.

The Fudallys, who were seated up front with their friend, Marilyn Staudaher, were among a near capacity crowd of 837 who, based on their warm applause, seemed to thoroughly relish an hour of holiday songs including “Hanukkah Prayer,” “It’s Christmas,” “When I Hear Those Jingle Bells,” “Christmas, Here We Come,” “Sing We Now of Christmas,” “Home for the Holidays,” and a delightful “Twas the Night Before Christmas” among others.

“We have a good friend in the choir named Pat Woods,” Jan Fudally said when asked what drew she and her husband to the night of holiday music.

“And they love Timothy O’Connor, the conductor,” yelled out another friend nearby.

Actually, O’Connor, Woods and the rest of the Chorale seemed eager to get the season started. They presented the songs with lots of energy.

“I think it went great,” O’Connor said after the show.

While Jan Fudally’s red sweater was a hit, she was a bit overshadowed by Aliyah Bennett and Fernando Cruz, both State College of Florida students who recently won SCF scholarships, when the pair performed on stage.

Bennett, who can hit the highest notes as easy as a bird flies, sang “O Holy Night” and had the crowd clapping and cheering when she was done. Cruz, who plays tenor saxophone, earned the same reaction for his jazz version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town!”

Cruz, whose inspiration is John Coltrane, played Sunday with Nico Sanchez on guitar, Isaac Mingus on base and Ethan Eckhard on drums. They are the SCF Presidential Quartet.

Bennett, who graduated from Palmetto High School in 2014, grew up singing locally in church.

“I want to be a world renowned jazz saxophonist and a professor at a top university,” Cruz said.

“I want to have fun with my gift a little after I’m finished with school by singing on cruise ships or resorts,” Bennett said. “I want to travel around the world with it.”

If fame does come, the pair might always remember getting the holiday season started for hundreds of happy people on a snowless night in Bradenton.

This story was originally published December 4, 2016 at 8:26 PM with the headline "Bay Chorale officially declares ‘It's Christmas’ in Manatee."