MOUNT VERNON — The Cornell College holiday concert Saturday, Dec. 1, in King Chapel will present college vocal ensembles only, as the traditional holiday concert also featuring the Cornell Chamber Orchestra and Mount Vernon Community Choir takes a one-year hiatus, pending a study of staging and electrical renovation in King Chapel.
This year’s concert features the 65-voice Concert Choir and the 22-voice Chamber Singers, who last May performed a successful European concert tour through Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. under the direction of Lisa Hearne, assistant professor of music. Accompanist is Lee Nguyen. Admission is free.
“King Chapel is a grand room, but it needs updating to accommodate larger productions such as the annual holiday concert or the Cedar Rapids Symphony,” said Martin Hearne, associate professor of music and conductor of the Chamber Orchestra. “Our musical ensemble participation continues to grow, which is a great thing, but it has placed tremendous demands on our ability to stage and light the show.”
President Les Garner said, “Although the department and the administration were reluctant to suspend the full holiday concert production for this year, I think it will be the best thing for the long term. It’s important that our audiences can come to concerts in King Chapel and enjoy the experience from all aspects — that they can see and hear everything that is going on. We want to create the best possible event we can for both the performers and the audience.”
This year the Chamber Singers will perform carols and hymns for Christmas, including a spiritual, “Go Where I Send Thee,” by acclaimed African-American composer André Thomas. Student soloists include Mary Drexler, a senior from Clarence, Iowa, and Scott Holt, a sophomore from Honeoye, N.Y.
The Concert Choir will feature three pieces from Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols.” Britten composed the work on a passenger ship as it made a dangerous Atlantic crossing from the United States to his native England during World War II. It has since become one of the 20th century’s most performed Christmas works for choir. Another work is the finale from American Randall Thompson’s “The Peaceable Kingdom,” featuring Biblical texts from the book of Isaiah. The concert also will include seasonal motets and spirituals.
Future projects for the holiday concert include plans for Handel’s “Messiah” and a special commemoration of Cornell’s sesquicentennial in 2003.