Christmas Concert Set to Dazzle
featuring the Hartford Chorale, Hartford Chorale Chamber Singers, and Hartford Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, December 8 at 8 pm
Christmas is just around the corner, and what better way to get into the spirit than with the glittering holiday concert Christmas with the Hartford Chorale. Immanuel Congregational Church in Hartford will ring with the joyful sound of voices and of winds, brass, harp, organ, percussion, and piano, on December 8,at 8 pm.
Christmas with the Hartford Chorale promises to be the season’s premiere musical extravaganza, featuring the 160-member Hartford Chorale, the Chorale Chamber Singers, an array of vocal soloists, and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Coffey and Colin Britt.
Featured works on the program include Ottorino Respighi’s colorful cantata, Lauda per la Natività del Signore, sung in Italian, with the wind ensemble and pianists of the HSO plus soprano Louise Fauteux, mezzo-soprano Cynthia Mellon, and tenor Jack Pott, all led by Colin Britt, the Chorale’s assistant conductor. The women of the Chorale, with harpist Susan Knapp-Thomas, offer Benjamin Britten’s beloved A Ceremony of Carols, a rich tapestry of ancient and colorful texts, set to music by England’s most important composer of the 20th century. And from the pen of one of America’s greatest composers, we present Daniel Pinkham’s most popular work, the captivating Christmas Cantata for choir, organ, and brass quartet, featuring the HSO’s brass ensemble, both led by conductor Richard Coffey.
The concert begins in a blaze of sound for brass and chorus with Allen Bonde’s one-minute “Fanfare for Christmas” – a great musical shout of “Gloria in excelsis”! The men offer the tender “O Tannenbaum,” sung in German, and a number of other enchanting arrangements will be heard. The Hartford Chorale Chamber Singers, under the direction of Colin Britt, will inspire all with selections of their own, and the entire audience will be invited to join chorus, organ, and brass, in two traditional carols.
“The evening’s performance of entrancing music from many ages and many lands will delight all who are there. Don’t miss it!” – Hartford Chorale music director and conductor Richard Coffey
Immanuel Congregational Church is located at 10 Woodland Street in Hartford. Tickets are $27.50; $25 for seniors; and $15 for students. For tickets and info go to hartfordchorale.org, or call 860.547.1982. The concert is sponsored by the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation, The State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development – Connecticut Office of the Arts, and the Greater Hartford Arts Council.
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