The sounds of Christmas
Peter Breinholt will perform two Christmas concerts in what he said is one of his favorite venues, the USU Performance Hall, on Friday. The concerts will raise money for an organization helping those suffering from mental illnesses reintegrate back into society.
“Transitions” is a program Bear River House employee Kevin Winn started a few years ago to help mentally ill patients adjust back to their regular lives. He said the people who are part of the Transitions program are “at an in-between stage” since they aren’t in the hospital anymore, but still need help.
“We have a group of people who are at the verge of reintegrating into society, both socially and with their families, who are stuck at the last stage of getting back out there, so one of the things we do to help is get them back in the community and practice transitioning,” Winn said.
Winn said isolation is a barrier for people who are trying to recover from a mental illness. He refers to the state as “lost in their stinkin’ thinkin'” because staying at home makes it easy for negative thoughts to “over take their lives again.” Because of this, the program is specifically designed to get people out of their homes and doing everyday activities.
“We go to movies or go bowling or get some ice cream about twice a week to help these folks get out of their houses and back to doing everyday things,” Winn said.
These activities led to Winn becoming familiar with Peter Breinholt. Last Christmas, Winn contacted Breinholt to see if there were any extra tickets for his popular Christmas concert. Breinholt was able to give Winn and the Transitions group tickets, and Breinholt said they have kept in touch and been friends ever since. The concert at USU will help raise money for the events Transitions does each week.
“When Kevin approached me to do this I thought, ‘I love Logan and that performance hall and I would be happy to help Kevin out so yeah, I’d love to do this,'” Breinholt said.
Winn said Breinholt has been “generous” with his support in the program and he said he is hoping the event will be a success and raise enough money.
“Peter has been wonderful,” Winn said, “that is just who he is.”
Breinholt said regardless of how many people attend, all of the money is going to the cause.
“Whether it sells out or not it doesn’t make a difference to me,” Breinholt said. “We just want to see it do well and fill the auditorium because that always makes for a fine performance.”
Dan Sorensen, the program coordinator for Bear River House, said Breinholt was very willing to do the benefit concert for them.
“More than anything I am just very grateful for Peter. He has been very kind and very willing to help. I am very impressed by him,” Sorensen said.
Breinholt performed in the Performance Hall two years ago and said it “screams Christmas concert.” He said a “little secret” to getting musicians to perform and donate their time isn’t always exposure, but a combination of working with the right people and venue.
“It wasn’t a tough sell for my band to come do this concert even though they are taking a pay cut to do it. I told them that this is Logan and Logan is always good to us and we will have an audience so all the guys in the band said they’ll do it,” Breinholt said.
Breinholt said he does a Christmas show every year, typically in Salt Lake, but this year it will be in Logan. He said the concert will feature songs from his Christmas album, released in 2002, as well as new Christmas singles he releases each year. This year will feature two to three new songs that Breinholt said will keep the concert “fresh and changing.”
“For me, the idea of a Christmas concert is to inject as much Christmas spirit as you can in a 90-minute concert and I don’t care how we get there. Sometimes we turn to video because images can help. We will also want to make the set design feel as festive as possible,” Breinholt said.
Breinholt said he loves to do Christmas concerts because it gives him a chance to perform in a different kind of atmosphere. He said because of the songs he sings, there is always a lot of excitement and enthusiasm, which he said he loves, but Christmas concerts give him a chance to perform in a different atmosphere.
“Christmas shows come along and provide an opportunity to bring it down a bit. It is a great way to do what I want to do. There is a tone you can get in a Christmas show, a reverent tone, that I think people go to find. I love that sort of tone that comes with the territory,” Breinholt said.
– megan.b@aggiemail.usu.edu