Western Wind Holiday Concert Comes to St. Luke's

The Grammy-nominated Western Wind Vocal Sextet will present "Home For The Holidays - from Darkness to Light" on Sunday, December 8 at 7:00 PM Church of St. Luke in the Field, 487 Hudson Street, NYC (West Village). The concert celebrates Christmas and Chanukah with a rich assortment of holiday music. It is the first NYC mainstage event for the sextet's "new" ensemble, which includes three new members. Organized by themes such as "The Coming of Light," "Miracles," "Holiday Messages" and "Food & Fun," the program explores the deeper meaning of the stories, rituals and festivities of these two winter holidays.

The program features the world premiere of "And Yet The Light Returns" by Gerald Cohen, Robert Dennis' setting of Edna St. Vincent Millay's Christmas miracle poem "The Ballad of the Harpweaver," and Martha Sullivan's "Lazarus," a setting of Emma Lazarus' "The New Colossus" that is found on the Statue of Liberty. The program also includes Renaissance Hebrew psalm settings by Salamone Rossi; Yiddish, Sephardic and Hebrew Chanukah Songs and Christmas music by César Carrillo, Charles Ives and Francis Poulenc.

The Western Wind singers are sopranos Linda Lee Jones and Elizabeth van Os, countertenor Eric S. Brenner, tenors Todd Frizzell and David Vanderwal and baritone Elijah Blaisdell. They will be joined by Patricia Davis on violin and Will Holshouser on accordion.

Having just celebrated the ensemble's 50th Anniversary, the "New" Western Wind makes its New York City debut with this concert. Half of the sextet is new: Soprano Elizabeth van Os joined the ensemble in October and countertenor Eric S. Brenner and baritone Elijah Blaisdell joined the ensemble in August.

Tickets for the December 8 concert are $50 priority seating, $35 general admission and can be purchased online at http://www.westernwind.org/store.html?tix. $20 student/senior tickets will be sold at the door (based on availability). Patron and sponsor tickets are $100 ($50 tax deductible), $250 ($200 tax deductible) and $500 ($450 tax deductible). For more concert information, please call 212-873-2848 or e-mail: info@westernwind.org.

Western Wind will begin its 51st year in 2020. Since 1969, this Grammy nominated vocal sextet has devoted itself to the special beauty and variety of a cappella music. The New York Times has called them "A kaleidoscopic tapestry of vocal hues." The ensemble's repertoire reveals its diverse background, from Renaissance motets to Fifties rock'n'roll, medieval carols to Duke Ellington, complex works by avant-garde composers to the simplest folk melodies. Visit them at http://www.westernwind.org.