- NW’s music department will present its annual Christmas Vespers this weekend.
This Saturday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m., Northwestern’s music department will present its annual Christmas Vespers concerts. The concerts will feature pieces performed by A Cappella Choir, Women’s Choir, Heritage Singers, Chamber Orchestra, Brass Ensemble and Chimes Ensemble. Selections will range from the traditional carols to large-scale works making use of choir, strings, organ and brass.
The concert has been named “A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.” It is patterned after a traditional service at King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, England. Interlaced with musical selections are nine scripture lessons read by various NW faculty, staff, students and members of the community. The readings start with creation and the fall of man and will culminate with the affirmation of the deity of the Christ child.
The A Cappella Choir, directed by Thomas Holm, will sing pieces ranging from the spiritual “Go Where I Send Thee” by Caldwell and Ivory, to the grand “Gloria Patri” by Bach to the piece “Three Kings” set to the text of a poem written by 20th century poet Laurence Housmann.
Linell Gray Moss will lead the Women’s Choir as well as a collaborative piece with the women from A Cappella Choir. Timothy McGarvey will direct the brass ensemble, and Jungho Kim will conduct the Chamber Orchestra. The Chimes Ensemble will perform under the direction of Heather Josselyn-Cranson.
In addition to the Vespers Concerts this weekend, next weekend on Friday, Dec. 11, at 7:30 p.m., the brass quintet and saxophone ensemble will perform. This concert will be a fun way to finish off the semester. McGarvey, director of both ensembles, commented, “This concert has a great variety of music, including things from classical to ragtime.”
The Brass Quintet will perform six pieces, including “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” by Rusty Dedrick. Members of the ensemble include Carolyn Dundas and Marilee Akland on trumpet, Rachel Schultz on horn, Matt Skelton on trombone and Zack Wolf on tuba.
The Saxophone Quartet will perform five pieces. Its repertoire includes “Sarabande and Air” by G.F. Handel and “Rondino” by Frank Erickson. Members of the Saxophone Quartet are Kelby Robinson and Brianna Ellis on alto sax, Suzanne Grebner on tenor sax and Steve Ehlers on baritone sax.