Concert to celebrate Christmas season

Mon, November 10, 2008 |

The annual Valparaiso University Christmas Concert, a campus holiday tradition for more than 80 years, will celebrate the Advent season with performances by the University's premier musical ensembles Dec. 5 and 6 in the Chapel of the Resurrection.

The Christmas Concert, which features approximately 200 student musicians, will take place at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 and at 5 p.m. Dec. 6. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and senior citizens. Call the VU Box Office at (219) 464-5162 or visit its Web site for more ticket information and to purchase tickets.

Hundreds of people throughout Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland, along with the campus community, alumni and parents, make Valparaiso's Christmas Concert an annual part of their holiday celebrations.

Among works of the holiday season featured in this year's concert are Percy Grainger's Blithe Bells, Carolyn Jennings' Ding Dong! Merrily on High, Glory to God in the Highest from Dona nobis pacem, Herbert Howells' A Spotless Rose, Emile Desamours' Noel Ayisyen (A Haitian Noel) and portions of J.S. Bach's Magnificat.

Audience members also will be invited to join University ensembles and sing familiar hymns of the Christmas season during the concert, including From Heaven Above and People, Look East.

The Christmas Concert will conclude with Gustav Holst's Christmas Day, a piece that captures the excitement, anticipation, happiness and hope experienced every Dec. 25, and the audience singing O Come All Ye Faithful.

Valparaiso's premier vocal and instrumental ensembles, the Chorale, Chamber Concert Band and Symphony Orchestra, will perform together and individually during the concert. Each of the ensembles has toured across the United States and internationally, and is featured on albums released by Valpo ArtsMedia.

Earlier this year, Valpo ArtsMedia released a digital video recording of the University's 2007 Christmas Concert in celebration of the institution's ongoing 150th anniversary, the first time the concert has been available as a video recording. Classical radio stations across the country, including WFMT 98.7 in Chicago, have broadcast Valparaiso's Christmas Concert.