With thousands of tiny, twinkling lights casting a warm, golden glow on the faces of the singers in front of him, Matt Fry raises his arms. He turns and cues pianist Daniel Steinert, who begins playing “Hodie Fanfare” brightly in 10/8 time. After four bars, the sopranos join the piano, their voices soaring into the rafters. Next come the altos, then the tenors. Finally, the deep, resonant rumble of the basses joins the harmony in a round of “Gloria, Gloria!” As the joyous song progresses, the entire chorus sings in unison, Hodie Christus natus est! Today, Christ is born!

Tonight is the first of two Christmas concerts that the Fearrington Village Singers perform each year in the Fearrington Barn. Matt has been the group’s music director for nearly two decades. Always near the front at many of his concerts sits his mom, Shirley. She’s 87, and she copes with a joint disease known as osteoarthritis that causes pain and stiffness in her neck. She attends often, and when she does, she remembers. She helped Matt find joy in music. Today, Matt helps her find joy in life.

• • •

Shirley knew Matt would be musical early on, and she was determined to help him develop his talent. She watched him dance down the hallway of their family home in Missouri while humming “The Star-Spangled Banner.” That same year, he climbed onto the bench of the family’s new piano and picked out “Jingle Bells.” The piano was meant for his brother, Tim, who was four years older. But Matt, who had no experience playing a musical instrument, was drawn to it. He was only 3. This kid’s got quite an ear, Shirley thought.

Shirley, who had experience with piano herself, wanted her younger son to tap into his natural talent. So when he was 7, she signed him up for piano lessons. When she realized that he wasn’t learning to read music but was simply playing by ear, she took him to a different teacher who would make him play from sheet music. Shirley made Matt practice every day, and when friends came by to ask if he could come out to ride bikes, if he hadn’t finished practicing, she wouldn’t let him go.

Matt went on to play trumpet in his school band. But his mother, who had performed in musical theater, really wanted him to sing. “Mom almost literally dragged me up to the school to sing for the high school chorus teacher,” he says. “And [the teacher] threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug and said, ‘Thank God! I need a bass.’ ”

“I read that it’s a parent’s responsibility to realize your child’s talent and help them develop it,” Shirley Fry says. Her son, Matt, adds with a laugh, “And beat it into them.” photograph by Charles Harris

Shirley’s diligence paid off. Matt graduated from Missouri Western State University with a degree in education with a vocal music emphasis. He taught chorus for 12 years in Missouri before moving to North Carolina in 2000 for his then-wife’s career. At Jordan-Matthews High School in Siler City, Matt taught chorus and theater until his retirement in 2021. During that time, he taught “a bunch of good kids.”

He explains that most of his students had a good work ethic. They showed up, listened and helped classmates who were struggling to master a skill. “When you see a kid being nice to another kid, when you see somebody helping somebody else, when you have that perfect moment where the music is exactly like it’s supposed to be, it’s euphoric,” Matt says. “It’s almost overwhelming to know that they did that, or that you all did that together.”

Today, former students often come up to Matt when they see him around town. “I’ve never had any grown-up come up to me, who used to be a kid of mine, without a smile on their face and saying, ‘Hey, Mr. Fry, you remember me?’ ” he says. “It’s a good feeling.”

He’s been able to keep in touch with many of his former pupils through social media. One gave him a card to thank him. When she started taking chorus, she was shy. By the time she graduated, she had gained a lot more confidence. She credited Matt with bringing her out of her shell. “That’s really cool,” he says.

“When you have that perfect moment where the music is exactly like it’s supposed to be, it’s euphoric.”

In addition to teaching, Matt sang with the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham and the Duke Chapel Choir. Dr. Rodney Wynkoop, the director of choral music at Duke University, invited Matt to join the Triangle Choral Exchange after his first year of teaching at Jordan-Matthews. He traveled with the group to South Africa and Namibia, where they performed with choruses from those two countries and visited Robben Island, where they sang in a common area of the prison that once held Nelson Mandela.

“That was really powerful,” Matt says. “When you’re standing there near that jail cell and looking around and thinking that [Mandela] did this for almost 30 years — if he survived that, it just makes you think that your problems aren’t quite as bad as you thought they were, and that you can probably get through it, whatever it is.”

Matt brought home a flat black stone from the beach on the island, and whenever he’s going through a tough time or when things seem overwhelming, he picks up the rock, rubs his fingers over it, and thinks, I can do this.

Matt knew his mom would need that kind of encouragement for what he was about to ask her to do.

• • •

Matt worried about his mom. She was in good health, but she was getting older. She had no close family left in Missouri, and by 2009, she had moved out of Matt’s childhood home. Shirley was a social butterfly, and with his concern about her living alone, Matt gave her a call.

“Why don’t you come out here?” he asked.

“Oh, I’ll just ruin your life,” she responded.

“No, you won’t,” he assured her.

Shirley packed up her small apartment and moved 1,000 miles away from everything she had ever known to come to a state she hadn’t visited since childhood, where she didn’t know anyone besides her son. With such a daunting move, she wondered how she would be accepted in North Carolina. But the move excited her, and her son was there to help. Matt discovered a bridge club for her to join, and the members welcomed her immediately. With her outgoing personality, Shirley made friends easily, and she fell in love right away with the people — and the environment. “I told Matt I felt like I was living in a state park when I came out here,” she says. “Everything was so beautiful, and something’s always blooming in North Carolina.”

The chorus from Jordan-Matthews High School joins the Fearrington Village Singers for “I Wish You Christmas.” photograph by Charles Harris

Now, at 87, Shirley has a lot of spunk — and she knows she hasn’t ruined her son’s life. “But I’m trying!” she jokes. She does, though, have trouble getting around. A few years ago, while rehearsing in Durham, Matt felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was his mom. She had fallen at home. She was able to get herself off the floor, but she was bleeding. Matt rushed out of rehearsal, and on the hour-long drive home, thoughts ran through his head: Will she be in the ER? Will I be able to continue leaving her at home by herself? Is my singing career over?

When he walked in the door, he found her in the company of their neighbors. She was shaken up, but she was fine. Matt was not. He had a decision to make.

He weighed the musical satisfaction of singing with the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham and the Duke Chapel Choir against the anxiety of worrying constantly about his mom while he was an hour away. Wouldn’t I feel rotten if something happened, and I’m at rehearsal? he asked himself. He knew what he had to do: Give up performing with the two choral groups.

Today, Matt cares for his mom by helping her remember to take her medications, and he drives her when she needs to go somewhere. Wherever they go, she holds onto him for support, either clutching his arm or holding his hand. She feels safe knowing that her son is there to support her.

Sometimes, when Matt schedules a rehearsal for the Fearrington Village Singers, Shirley comes along, especially if there’s going to be a social gathering afterward. Following the rehearsal, she gives honest critiques. Matt doesn’t mind at all.

• • •

At the Fearrington Village Singers Christmas concert, Shirley sits near the front. An upbeat song makes her smile; a heartfelt song makes her cry. The whole time, she watches her son direct, and as she remembers hearing him play “Jingle Bells” on the family’s new piano nearly 60 years ago, she thinks of what music has brought them both: joy.

Shirley’s osteoarthritis keeps her in pain, but when she hears the jubilant music that her son’s chorus creates, her discomfort disappears. It happens at every concert, and every time, she thinks, Isn’t that funny?

For more information on this year’s Christmas concerts, visit fearringtonvillagesingers.org.