Each holiday season, the carolers of Voces Dei have traveled to different places in the Odessa-Midland area, bringing a little bit of Christmas cheer and raising money for a good cause.
This year has featured a longer performance schedule than in the past as Voces Dei raises money for this year’s charity St. Joseph Ministries.
Voces Dei is a West Texas caroling group that has been around since 1989.
Rob Montgomery is one of the creative directors of the group as well as one of the original members.
When the group started, it consisted of just four people including Montgomery himself.
“There were four youth ministers that we had done some stuff together,” Montgomery said. “Some people asked us to come caroling for them. So the four of us got together for the first four or five years and we’d go to friends’ houses and families. Sometimes we’d go into the hospitals and nursing homes to sing. Then somebody asked us if we could do a gig for a larger group. We gathered some other folks into the group and went and sang.”
From there, the group began to expand and now consists of over 20 members.
The group performs Christmas carols at nursing homes and other places and raises money for local nonprofit organizations.
“At some point, somebody decided that we should sing for some charity,” Montgomery said. “We don’t have a checking account. Nobody pays us directly. The checks are made directly for the charity. … It’s been 30 years since we started. But we’ve gotten to the point where we ‘charge’ $200 to sing for somebody in the Midland-Odessa area and that check goes to the charity.”
The proceeds go directly toward the charity.
“We like to choose the charities that are just getting off the ground. … This year, we’re doing St. Joesph Ministries. … We like to pick a charity that doesn’t have much publicity and we’re giving them publicity and a boost.”
This year, the group is doing 25 shows and will finish up next week.
Voces Dei kicked off its season by performing at the Basin Abstract and Title Christmas Party at the Odessa Country Club last month.
Volunteer members of the group come from the Tall City and Odessa.
“We’re generally folks from Midland but we have some folks from Odessa,” Montgomery said. “We’ve done many numbers in Odessa. This was the first year we did a gig before Thanksgiving.”
The group performs a capella and rehearsals begin a month or so before the Christmas season.
Each gig is about half-an-hour with Christmas songs ranging from both church hymns to other holiday favorites.
“We rehearse in the months of October and November, about once a week,” Montgomery said. “We do a 30-minute gig. It’s sacred and secular songs. We sing Charles Wesley, Eartha Kitt and Elvis Pressley. We’ve covered the gambit. It’s a different group for each gig, depending on when folks can be available.”
The carolers come by wearing festive outfits.
“We wear Christmas gear of all sorts and festive hats,” Montgomery said. “One guy has a Santa dreadlock hat and another has a roosted turkey. We wear our ugly sweaters. We have a really good time. We have a good time at rehearsals and the gigs. Sometimes, we’re just background music for some of the gigs and other times, we’re the stars of the show.”
In the past, Montgomery says they’ve raised between $8,000-$9,000. This year, they’re hopeful of raising more.
“This year, we’re hoping it’ll be more significant than that because we have about 25 shows,” Montgomery said.
In previous years, Voces Dei has done about 14 gigs.
“We do it because we love singing,” Montgomery said. “It’s a good family. We love singing and we love the opportunity to give to some charity in this form. It gives the charity a leg up.”
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