Guatemala’s national instrument, the marimba, will be wassailing along with Powell River Chorus at their upcoming Christmas concert.
“It weights about 400 pounds,” said classical marimba player Judith Spencer. “It’s like a very large xylophone. It has a very lush sound.”
Spencer will travel to Powell River to share the sounds of the rosewood marimba with interested listeners at Evergreen Theatre for chorus’ annual holiday concert and wassail, an Old English term for Christmas carolling festivities.
Such a large instrument takes finesse and physicality to play, said Spencer.
“I get into the music and put my body weight into it,” she said. “It is physical; I lift weight and make sure I’m in shape.”
Spencer learned the marimba as an 11-year-old child after discovering her hands were too small to play the piano to her liking.
“I couldn’t span an octave on the piano,” she said. “But I could make all these lovely sounds on the marimba.”
Now based in Seattle, Spencer has deep ties with Powell River. Her grandfather wrote “The Thunderbird,” the Brooks Secondary School song, which was later played in 1996 by her father at the opening of the new high school.
Frequently travelling with her marimba to Canada, Spencer said the large instrument sometimes causes concern at the border.
“I have to let the guards know what it is and they always want to check,” she said. “Eventually the whole process just took so long that I just registered the marimba.”
According to Spencer, transporting such a large instrument isn’t easy.
“My husband is my sherpa,” she said. “Luckily, he’s really happy to help.”
Spencer will be joining Powell River Chorus for their Christmas concert and wassail at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, December 2, at Evergreen Theatre.
