Hockley Historic Community Hall and Church to hold third annual Christmas Concert

December 4, 2025 · 0 Comments

Written By Joshua Drakes

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

For those who are looking for a local festive way to celebrate Christmas and the holiday season, Hockley has you covered with its annual Christmas concert on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.

For the last two years, the Hockley Historic Community Hall and Church has been hosting an annual Christmas concert, organized in part by local author and musician Angela van Breemen. She said that guests can expect a wonderful assortment of music and talent to really ignite the holiday spirit.

“We have a very nice mix of music which I think will appeal to everyone, and really tug on your heartstrings,” she said. “We’ve got a soprano, a mezzo soprano, two baritones, and a tenor, and we’ll be performing music for all ages, going from big style opera pieces to contemporary pieces that we all know and love.”

This concert is going to be bigger this year than the previous two years, said van Breemen. She felt that previous concerts were a little bit too short, and the audience was asking for more. This year, she said, there will be more performers than ever before, extending the concert to roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes.

“I absolutely love finding new talent in our area, it’s just so full of it,” van Breeman enthused. “Opening, we’re going to have Ben Canedo, he’s a wonder baritone, and some of the music he’s going to be singing is ‘Believe,’ a song from The Polar Express, and ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.’ We’re also going to be having a pair of teen musicians, Brianna and Quinn. They’re a soft rock acoustic duo – absolutely wonderful voices. They’ll be playing some Neil Young, ‘Rocking Around the Christmas Tree’, and more.”

Brianna and Quinn will also be performing with another musician, Sean Derraugh. They’ll be performing a unique rendition of Feliz Navidad.

Rounding out the rest of the night, Lorne Derraugh, Cynthia Fox-Fucile, and Paul Poirier will be joining the evening’s performers, bringing more songs and sounds to the hall. Of course, van Breemen herself will be taking the stage.

The concert will also support the preservation of the historic community hall and church, a personal goal for van Breemen, who’s lived in the area for a long time.

“I actually work with Procyon Wildlife, and two years ago I held a fundraising concert for Procyon at the hall and church, and I realized that ‘oh my god,’ these folks really need more awareness about these buildings,” she said. “So I decided to switch up and do the charity concerts for the hall and church, which we’ve been doing the last two years, and now this is our third. I’m absolutely delighted to do it.”

The community hall and church have a very unique history. In 1887, the church was disassembled and carried by sleds through the winter landscape from Mono to its current location in Hockley.

As much as van Breemen wants to support the hall and church, she also said that bringing people together in the small village for the holidays is also an important goal. A sense of community, belonging, and bonding is the centerpiece of the concert.

“I think that there’s something special about bringing people together for Christmas,” van Breeman said. “Our concerts always consist of singing with the audience; somehow, people aren’t as shy around Christmas, and they sing along. This is a time to come together, enjoy some music, and celebrate community.”

Tickets for this event are $10, with kids under 10 getting free admission. Tickets are selling fast, however, so van Breemen recommends securing them fast.

To inquire about tickets, email info@hockleyvillage.com or call 905-691-2361.