Christmas recording will benefit seminary

Tara Lyn Hart

After six years away from the recording studio, Tara Lyn Hart has returned—this time with a focus on faith and the Christmas season. The Canadian Country Music Association Award Winner and Juno nominee is set to release her first Christmas CD on November 30.

The CD contains six songs, including four originals by Hart. “One of the things I love the most is the creative part, being able to write,” she says, adding that the content is mostly focused on the Christian significance of Christmas, but a couple of songs deal more with the festive mood of the season.

The album marks a renewal and redirection of Tara Lyn Hart’s career. Singing has played an important part of her life since her childhood in Roblin, Manitoba, performing in church, and local talent competitions. In 1996, she signed a recording contract with Sony Music, an opportunity that took her and husband Perry to Nashville for three years. 

In 2001, Hart received more Canadian Country Music Association Award nominations than any other artist—including Shania Twain. She won that year’s CCMA Rising Star Award and was also nominated for two Juno Awards. It was also in 2001 she decided to end her relationship with Sony. The couple was expecting their third child and balancing family life with the busy musician’s lifestyle was becoming difficult. “God had some other plans,” says Tara Lyn about that time.

Perry has since become a student at Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Catharines, Ontario where Tara Lyn also shares her talents as choir director. Proceeds from the sale of the Christmas CD will benefit the seminary, which is also handling the administrative aspects of the production. The seminary connection extends to other musicians on the recording which includes violinist Dianne Humann, Niagara Symphony Orchestra member and wife of retired CLTS professor Rev. Dr. Roger Humann.

Copies of the CD are available for $10 each by pre-ordering through CLTS by telephone at 905-688-2362 or e-mail: concordia@brocku.ca. Visa and MasterCard payments are accepted.

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