Missouri S&T choirs will celebrate the holiday season with a concert titled “Songs of the Season” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, in Leach Theater of Castleman Hall. Choirs performing include the University Choir and the Chamber Choir.
Tickets are $3 for the general public and free for S&T students and youth age 18 and younger. Tickets are available between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and one hour before the performance in the Leach Theatre Box Office.
The program will begin with Personent Hodie, followed by Lux Aurumque, a poem written by Edward Esch, translated into Latin by American poet Charles Anthony Silvestri, with music composed by Eric Whitacre.
The Chamber Choir will perform a jazz arrangement of Jingle Bells, by Jerry Mueller, followed by Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind, a poem by William Shakespeare, set to music by John Rutter. Part of a larger work by Rutter, this will feature freshman Garion Lovig and junior Alana McMichael as soloists. It will be followed by Sicut Cervus, a traditional Renaissance a cappella piece. The Chamber Choir will close its portion of the program with Angels in Seven.
University Choir will perform Throw Open Your Shutters!, a festive madrigal announcing the Christmas celebration, followed by three pieces from Rutter’s What Child is This, A Christmas Cantata.
Andrew Dunkman, a junior majoring in computer science, will solo on Alleluyah Sasa! He Is Born, by Ben Allaway. The choirs will join forces with Sasa, a brand-new choral piece commissioned by Northern Arizona University. “Alleluyah Sasa” is translated as “Alleluia Now” and features the soloist as an angel. Sung in both Swahili and English, the piece has become one of the choir’s favorites.
A cookie and punch reception will follow the concert.
University Choir is open to students, faculty, staff and community members. No audition is required. University Choir sings many standards, and works on vocal production, technique and basic music fundamentals.
The Chamber Choir is an auditioned choir consisting of no more than 28 students. It focuses on a variety of styles of a cappella music.
The Missouri S&T choirs are conducted by Lorie Francis, a lecturer in the arts, languages and philosophy department at S&T. They are accompanied by Scott Brendler, a graduating senior in architectural engineering. This will be Brendler’s last concert with the choirs.
For more information, contact the Missouri S&T performing arts office at 573-341-4185 or Francis at lorief@mst.edu.