Holiday Concert Comes to Kennesaw State University

Kennesaw State University's Bailey School of Music will present the 2024 Holiday Concert on Sat., Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. The annual concert features almost 280 KSU students performing as part of the Choirs, Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, and Jazz I.

This year's offerings will delight and surprise patrons as they are treated to a wide range of holiday music, from Duke Ellington and Tchaikovsky to a Brazilian folk song and an African American spiritual. New this year, Jazz I will bring its unique sound to the holiday mix.

The Wind Ensemble begins the family-friendly concert with Kenny Bierschenk's A Festival Christmas. Resplendent sounds of the season burst through in this familiar and joyful medley of holiday tunes, including Come, O Come, Emmanuel, The First Noel, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

John Wasson's In the Christmas Mood takes holiday favorites and mixes them with the swing classic In the Mood. The result is the Wind Ensemble performing a medley giftwrapped for the audience, including Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman, and Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree.

In 1960, jazz buffs might have found Duke Ellington's record The Nutcracker Suite under the Christmas tree. The Jazz Band I will perform The Nutcracker Suite - Overture from the album featuring jazz interpretations of The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, arranged by Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.

The Chamber Singers will perform the Brazilian folk song A Nossa Lapinha. This rousing arrangement is based on a celebration that ends Christmas and takes place on Three Kings Day. Participants write their hopes for the new year on slips of paper and put them into the Lapinha, a nativity scene. Made of dried leaves and incense, the Lapinha is then burned, in the belief that nativity items are holy and should not be reused. Some believe that not burning the items brings bad luck in the new year.

Fast forward a few millennia to Cool Yule by the Jazz Band I, which is a delight for the band to play and for the audience to hear. This jovial jaunt on television personality Steve Allen's tribute to the holiday season, courtesy of Sherman Irby, bears a resemblance to the classic style of the Count Basie Orchestra.

The Combined Trebles will thrill patrons as they exchange alleluias in the African American spiritual A Christmas Alleluia, arranged by Undine Smith Moore. This spiritual was originally written for the Spelman College Glee Club in 1971.

Not to be outdone, the Mixed Choirs will perform Abreme la Puerta, arranged by Cristian Grases. This traditional folk song from Puerto Rico is usually sung at Christmastime. Singers knock on the door of a neighbor or friend's house and ask them to "open the door!" so they may come in and celebrate Christmas together.

In a delightful way to end this year's Holiday Concert, the Combined Choirs and Symphony Orchestra will perform A Musicological Journey Through the Twelve Days of Christmas by Craig Courtney. It starts with a chant, and each successive day finds a different (and hilarious) parody. Expect incognito appearances by musical greats, ending with a pseudo-Sousa Stars and Stripes Forever.

The 2024 Holiday Concert will be held on Sat., Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., at the Morgan Concert Hall in the Dr. Bobbie Bailey and Family Performance Center. Tickets are available online or by calling 470-578-6650. Please purchase tickets early, as this event will sell out quickly.

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