Carroll Choirs performing 'The Glories of Christmas' concert December 14

The Department of Fine Arts at Carroll College will perform a concert of choral music for Advent and Christmas on Sunday, December 14, 2014. The concert will be held at 4 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Helena. The performance includes the Carroll College Choir, Chamber Choir and Women’s Choir. The public is welcome and admission is free.

The theme of the concert is “The Glories of Christmas,” as many of the selections are songs in joyful thanks for the birth of Christ. The concert will feature a setting of a Gloria text from the Russian Orthodox church by Alexandre Gretchaninoff, two Advent motets by Francis Poulenc, and beautiful contemporary settings of the “Our Father” by Vytuatas Miskinis and the Ave Maria by Paul Mealor. The Carroll College Women’s Choir will present “Hodie” by Northwest composer Joan Szymko, and the Chamber Choir will sing sacred selections from the Renaissance by Claudio Monteverdi and Peter Philips. The concert will conclude with the world premiere of “Gloria!” composed specially for the Carroll Choirs by Dr. Lynn Petersen, Professor of Music. The lively piece abounds in energy and multiple interlocking rhythms for varied voice parts.

Special guests of the concert include Dale Fleck, who will play organ accompaniment on Philip Stopford’s “King of Glory, King of Peace,” and Jan Van Hook, who will guest conduct a selection performed by the Carroll College Chamber Choir. The concert also features student soloists Toby-Jeanne Almy, Symantha Bodden and Raena Whitney.

Admission to the concert is free, but a freewill offering will be taken to benefit the music fund at the Cathedral of St. Helena. The Carroll College Choirs are directed by Dr. Robert Psurny Jr., Professor of Music at Carroll. For more information on this concert, contact Dr. Psurny at 447-4807.