The Sedona Heritage Museum will be hosting “Merry Music at the Museum” on Saturday, Dec. 14, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., which will be followed later in the season by Michael Peach’s dramatic reading of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 3 p.m. as a fundraiser for the Sedona Community Food Bank.

‘Merry Music’

“Last year was the first year of ‘Merry Music at the Museum,’ and it’s growing this year,” Executive Director Nate Meyers said. “It’s a reimagining of what the old ‘Christmas in the Park’ was, but we’re trying to add more holiday spirit to it.”

“Merry Music at the Museum” will start with Acapella Sedona performing holiday tunes at 11 a.m., followed by Tom and Shondra Jepperson leading a singalong at noon. The Verde Valley Voices will perform at 1 p.m., after which the Jeppersons will return at 1:45 p.m.

Harmony on the Rocks, which was the local chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, has rebranded as Acappella Sedona to showcase the group’s expanded repertoire.

“People should come out because to enjoy the holiday cheer,” Acappella Sedona President Wally Reule said. “We’ll have a lot of traditional Christmas songs with a nice flair.” Verde Valley Voices was founded over 25 years ago in Cottonwood and is a non audition community choir. 

“Right now we have about 65 voices singing,” Verde Valley Voices conductor Joy Simons said. “We sing in the community, wherever we’re needed. We just enjoy singing. We work hard to get a good sound, and we love giving our music to the community.” Some of the songs on the program will include “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” as well as a unique arrangement of “Silent Night.” 

The choir will also perform a humorous piece called “No Time to Diet” that pokes fun at the abundance of holiday food.

A craft activity will be available for children and the Sedona Community Center will provide snacks for attendees. Volunteers at the museum will be decorating the interior, and many of the ornaments that will be on display are part of the Sedona Historical Society’s collection, including historical tree ornaments, paper garlands, ribbons and stockings.

“This year, we want to focus more on music, and we want to end the year on a positive note,” SHS Board of Trustees member Theresa Hawkins said. “We really want to bring in children as well and have something that the children can enjoy with their parents while the music is going on.” 

‘A Christmas Carol’

Peach’s dramatic reading of “A Christmas Carol” will take place on Saturday, Dec. 21.

“As a performer, I get to voice over 20 characters in doing this,” Peach said. “So there’s a lot of challenge in that, and a lot of joy trying to differentiate these characters, and I’ve always been intrigued by the fact that it’s a ghost story that’s told at Christmas-time.”

“I’ve had a couple of times where I’ve recognized families there for more than one year, and one family was kind enough one time to say, ‘This has become a family tradition with us to try to come and see you do this at the museum,’” Peach said.

“As I get older, I get more of an appreciation of what it’s like to look back on your life and realize, ‘Well, I kind of blew that,’ or ‘I wish I acted differently there’ in terms of your life choices and how you can come to regret those,” Peach said of his feelings about the themes of the Dickens story. “So I begin to empathize more with Scrooge as I age.”

Advance tickets are $10, or $12 at the door, and attendees may bring a donation of food items to benefit the Sedona Community Food Bank.

 For more information and to purchase tickets, visit sedonamuseum.org or call (928) 282-7038