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Local musicians share sounds of the season with free concert

By LIANE SMITH (Contact)

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Do you want to hear the sounds of the Christmas season?

Mary Roffler and Donald Downs want you to.

The local pair, who met at North Naples Baptist Church eight years ago, have put on free concerts since 2002.

Tonight, the duo will put on a concert of religious and secular music of the season, Downs playing the organ and Roffler playing the piano.

Photo by LIANE SMITH / Banner

Donald Downs and Mary Roffler rehearse for their free concert with Bill Barnett, soloist and worship music coordinator, at Covenant Presbyterian Church.

"The concerts are always free," Roffler said. "We don't want to give anybody any reason not to come."

Roffler, a retired elementary teacher who's in the process of moving from Naples to Tampa, said she and Downs want to extend the gifts they both have to the community, including to those who wouldn't normally come to church.

"We feel that God has given us a gift of musical ability and we not only want to share it, but are always prayerful that someone may come to know Christ through the inspiration and message of the music," Roffler said.

Downs, who has been involved with music since age six, was music director at Green Pond Bible Chapel in New Jersey for 20 years. He now plays organ for the North Naples Baptist Church.

The two began playing music together at church and said they were so well-received by audiences that they soon branched out to offer free community concerts. In addition to Christmas concerts, which include classic Christmas carols, the two also put on a free concert in remembrance of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Bill Barnett, soloist and worship music coordinator at Covenant Presbyterian Church in North Naples, said the free concerts are a great concept. He has even been known to sing in a few, and is scheduled to sing "White Christmas" with Joyce Petterson and "I Wonder as I Wander," by himself.

"It reflects on the message of the season," Barnett said. "The birth of Christ, and the peace and beauty of the season."

The first half of the concert, which begins at 6:30 p.m., involves sing-along music and comical skits, such as familiar jingles "Frosty the Snowman" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

"To get people warmed up," Roffler said.

The second half of the concert includes more traditional Christmas church songs, such as "O Come, All Ye Faithful."

The concert will last approximately one hour, and will be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church at 6926 Trail Blvd. North, which runs parallel to Tamiami Trail, across from Pelican Bay, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16.

For more information, call the Covenant Presbyterian Church at 597-3464.