The Villages Pops Chorus Christmas concert is filled with the spirit of joyful renewal and celebration. This year – for Director Bill Davis and the 150 Chorus members — the holiday performance will be emotional and bittersweet.
Earlier this year, Davis was diagnosed with cancer and will be leaving The Villages. He built the Chorus into a major musical and charitable force over the past decade.
Due to chemotherapy and other health issues, Davis wasn’t sure if he would make the holiday program. But he will be at the Dec. 9 performance at 3 and 6 p.m. in the North Lake Presbyterian Church.
He is ready for his musical finale. “I’m just so happy I can be a part of it; these people and this music means so much to me,” Davis, 75, said Saturday, during a rehearsal.
His emotional attachment is shared with chorus members. Many of them look upon Davis – who will move with his wife Sue to North Carolina to be near his children — as a coach, teacher and father figure.
“Let me put it this way: Bill Davis is the Pops Chorus,” said longtime member Bonnie Williams. “We wouldn’t have a pop chorus if it wasn’t for Bill.”
Dee Loge’ Wacker shared that sentiment.
“Bill touches our hearts and he keeps our dreams of music alive” she said. She also praised Sue Davis, administrator for the chorus, and Jo Ann Hanebrink the musical accompanist at the keyboards.
Bill and Sue Davis moved to The Villages in 2012. Soon after, he joined a ‘60s rock band called “3 for the Road.” But in 2014 he wanted to bring pop music to a chorus. He was also very active with the Villages Musical Theater.
Bill Davis met Jo Hanebrink, and they both shared a passion for pop music. “So we wanted to start a pops chorus,” Davis said. I couldn’t have done it without Jo. She is a tremendous accompanist, and you have to have one to make a chorus work.
“Bill brings such joy and love to this music, and to the people in the chorus and the audience,” Hanebrink said. “Bill and Sue give all they have to the chorus.”
The concerts offer more than just music. Sue and Bill Davis wanted to help the community. So far, concert ticket sales have generated $280,000 for charity, most of it geared to helping needy children.
“We never expected to raise that much money,” Bill Davis said. In addition to the Pops Chorus, Davis organized a couple spin-off folk groups of chorus members that have raised about $45,000 for charity.
“I think Bill’s legacy is the chorus and the good work it does to help people,” Sue Davis said. “We hear all the time from people in the audience telling us how much this music has helped them.
“We hear from people who have lost a spouse, or who are sick, or going through bad times. They always tell us that this music has touched them and made them feel better.”
Bill and Sue Davis have been married for 51 years. They met while students at the University of New Hampshire.
“We loved our time in The Villages,” Sue Davis said. The couple is moving to Charlotte, to be near their daughter Karen and son Eric. They have two grandchildren: Jasper, 7 and Nina, 5.
Davis will also focus on his health.
“Cancer is a challenge,” he said. “I’ve been lucky; I haven’t had a lot of pain. People tell me my hair still looks good. I tell them, it’s like my lawn; it looks good from far away, but when you get close, you see the dirt.”
Davis is determined to keep The Villages Pops Chorus going. “We have to keep it strong,” he said.
The Villages Pops Chorus recently elected a new board with Alexandra Rae as president.
“We can’t replace Bill, no one can replace Bill,” she said. “But we’ve developed a blueprint to keep it strong. We want to keep the essence of what Bill has created with the Pops Chorus.”
Jan Lavin has been part of the chorus since the early days. “I can’t tell you how much Bill Davis means to this chorus and this community,” she said. “He has been a savior for this music.
“I know the Christmas concert will be his last one here, and it will be my last one, too. That makes it more special for me, and I’ll always remember it.”
Tickets for the Christmas concert can be purchased online at:
thevillagespops.thundertix.com
Or at the Bridgeport Recreation Center each Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The big challenge for the chorus now is to find a new music director, who must be a Villages’ resident. It will be a paid assignment.
“It’s a matter of finding someone whose demeanor and conducting style will fit with the group,” Bill Davis said.
He added: “We don’t want somebody up there just to wave a baton. We want somebody who can relate to the singers, the audience and the people in The Villages.”
That’s what Bill Davis has done for the last 10 years. Now he faces a bigger challenge with cancer.
“My wife and I have always been ‘one-day-at-a-time type people,” he said. “I have so much to be grateful for. I’ve done so much and have so many great memories in The Villages.
“Now I have a different battle. These wonderful people in the chorus and this wonderful music will always be a part of me.”
Tony Violanti writes about music and entertainment for Villages-News.com. He was inducted into The Buffalo Music Hall of Fame as a music journalist.
