Earlier this week, a couple of my friends and I did what we always do during this time of year. We attended Heidi Joy's Christmas concert at the Holland Performing Arts Center in Omaha, Nebraska. I'm not sure how many of her annual shows we've seen in a row, but we've seen at least five in a row and I'm thinking it's closer to six or seven.
We took our seats a few minutes before the show started. A man sat down a couple of seats away from me and I asked him if anybody was joining him. He said his wife had an errand to run and she couldn't make it, but he still wanted to come, so he did. He'd seen Heidi perform at various functions around town, but he'd never made it to one of her Christmas concerts.
I told him that he was in for a treat. And boy was he ever. By the second song in the first set, "Children, Go Where I Send Thee," I knew we were in for something special. Heidi has a pure, powerful, angelic voice that moves you deep inside. At times, I feel like my emotions are literally riding on the waves of her voice as they reach for the heavens.
Six songs into the first set she performed "Mary, Did You Know?" I always get goose bumps when her piano player plays the opening notes of this song because she does it better than anybody I've ever heard sing it. I've heard Kathy Mattea's version, and Kenny Rogers' version, and Mark Lowery's version (he actually wrote the song), and several others, but none of them even come close to Heidi's version.
The lyrics of the song are moving and powerful and it's one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs. And when Heidi sings it, the song is everything music is supposed to be. It's awe-inspiring and it actually seems to come to life. When music can take you beyond the performer to the essence of the message, that's when music becomes great in my opinion. And the brilliant musicians let you bask in the essence of the message once they take you there. That's what Heidi does.
A couple of songs later, she sang "Silent Night" a-capella. In between the lyrics, during those briefest of moments when she took a breath, reverence filled the auditorium. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. Nobody seemed to breath. Just dead silence and then thunderous applause when she finished.
After she finished her first set, I leaned over to the guy I spoke with before the concert and asked him what he thought.
"Outstanding," he said. "She has an incredible voice."
He asked me a number of questions about Heidi's music and her career. I answered them the best I could. But something struck me in the middle of our conversation. I'm an introverted guy by nature and I don't usually initiate conversation with a stranger. But Heidi's music bridged that gap between us and before the break was over we were talking about Nebraska football, Creighton basketball, and all sorts of things.
Heidi came out for the second set and picked up where she left off. I particularly enjoyed one of her original songs she sang early in the set called "We Can Be Free." And I loved her renditions of "Gesu Bambino" and "O Holy Night." Her final song of the night, performed during the encore, was "Jesus, Oh What a Wonderful Child" and the up-tempo song was a perfect way to end the concert. Although, I don't think anybody really wanted it to end.
As I said last year, if you are looking for a way to brighten your Christmas season, I'd pick up her two Christmas CD's, "Heavenly Peace" and "Holiday Joy." But don't stop there. She has five fantastic CD's out and you won't go wrong by purchasing any or all of them. If you are interested, just go to her website, click on CD's, and order away.
