SUWANEE, Ga. - Arizonar -- The Sugar Hill Choir and Orchestra of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints presents its 17th annual holiday concert themed Songs of Christmas. A gift to the community, the December performances support the Church's worldwide Light the World Christmas season service initiative.

The concert will be held at 7 p.m., Dec. 11 and 12 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at 4833 Suwanee Dam Road, adjacent to North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Ga. No ticket is necessary for the free concert that includes a variety of Christmas music performed by nearly 80 singers and musicians. It will feature guest soloist Rebecca Harris Roberts of Cumming, Ga., and narrator Kelly Ladd, who wrote the script and is an award-winning actress and screenwriter from Suwanee, Ga.

The choir and orchestra are under the direction of Jim Carter of Gainesville, Ga. He took over the position following the December 2019 retirement of Pamela Gates who founded the choir in September 2005. Carter felt it was important to continue providing music to the community during COVID and coordinated virtual concerts during the last two spring and Christmas seasons. He is thrilled to finally return to in-person performances.

"After so much uncertainty the past couple of years, we hope this concert feels warm and familiar to the soul," said Carter, who is accompanied on the piano by Lauren Taylor of Johns Creek, Ga., and Pam Klomp of Roswell, Ga., and on the organ by Robin Hansen of Sugar Hill, Ga. "We want people to feel like they're coming home this Christmas season when they hear our music."

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Carter has served in several roles with the choir over the past decade. He is a gifted musician with more than 25 years of experience directing choirs, in addition to playing and teaching several instruments including the piano and organ. He has been an assistant principal for 10 years at Berkeley Lake Elementary in Duluth, Ga., and has six children with his wife, Rebecca, who also sings in the choir.

#LightTheWorld is an invitation to transform Christmas into a season of service, such as the many local opportunities found throughout the year on www.justserve.org. The worldwide Light the World movement is to touch hearts and change lives by doing the things Jesus did: feeding the hungry, comforting the lonely, visiting the sick and afflicted, and showing kindness to everyone. In Matthew 5:14 of the Bible, Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world." #LightTheWorld is the perfect way to let our light—and His light—shine brightly. Visit www.lighttheworld.org for a calendar of ideas or how to create your own, or on social media @ComeUntoChrist.

The choir will once again support the Light Up Georgia With Kindness initiative with the distribution of white luminary bags to concert attendees. The charity was launched in 2018 with the mission to strengthen communities by encouraging more acts of kindness Dec. 1 to 24. The culmination of all those good deeds involves participants placing white illuminated bags across yards and driveways on the evening of Dec. 24, visually connecting neighbor-to-neighbor to symbolize the positive impact we can have on each other. Additional bags and information will be distributed for guests to give to neighbors and friends to help create an unbroken chain as the community works together in Building Together the Pathway Lit by Kindness. Visit www.LightUpGeorgiaWithKindness.com for more information.

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About the Sugar Hill Choir

Organized in 2005 and nominated by the Gwinnett Daily newspaper as one of the top church choirs in Gwinnett, the Sugar Hill Choir of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consists of nearly 60 volunteer singers from seven counties in North Georgia. They perform four, free community concerts each year and have participated in dozens of other community and city events in Suwanee, Sugar Hill, Norcross, Gainesville and Atlanta. Additional information about the choir and upcoming performances, including its April 2022 concerts with the Gwinnett Community Band, can be found on its website at www.SugarHillChoir.org.