Rock Band Gigs to Raise Funds, Exposure for Community Chorus

MELROSE, MA — Memorial Hall in Melrose isn’t exactly the
Stone Pony, and the Polymnia Choral Society, a 57-year-old
volunteer chorus headquartered in Melrose, doesn’t usually engender
fist pumping at its concerts.

The group’s next performance on Dec. 3, for example, titled “A
Victorian Christmas,” will feature excerpts from Handel’s “Messiah”
and other seasonal favorites, said Polymnia Director Murray
Kidd.

But as the economy fell into decline over the last few years,
Kidd said Polymnia began looking for fresh ideas to shake up its
traditional program, and to broaden its audience.

Polymnia hasn’t added any blue-collar anthems to its repertoire,
but the group is hoping to spread its name to rock and roll fans in
the area this weekend by once again bringing the B Street Band, the
world’s longest-running Bruce Springsteen tribute act, to Memorial
Hall. Let the fist pumping ensue.