Music
2018 Christmas Festival set for Dec. 8 and 9
Muskingum University is inviting the community to join in song during its Christmas Festival, a musical worship experience that weaves together choral and instrumental music, poetry, scripture, candlelight, and seasonal carols, at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018, at Brown Chapel in New Concord.
In the tradition of Muskingum University's Vespers, the Christmas Festival, centered around the theme “The Child, The Lamb, The Prince of Peace,” will be led by the Muskingum University Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, Christmas Festival Orchestra, and organist Luke Tegtmeier. Prelude music will be provided by the Music Department’s instrumental chamber ensembles.
“This year’s Christmas Festival theme focuses on the paradoxical strength that exists in vulnerability. Christ comes as a defenseless child, as a tender lamb,” said Dr. Zebulon M. Highben, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities. “Our music and readings remind us that what appears weak by human standards may hold abundant hope and great power.”
An encore performance will take place at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1581 Cambridge Boulevard, Columbus, Ohio.
Featured repertoire will include works by Benjamin Britten, John Tavener, Carol Barnett, and Robert Ray, and carols from China, England, Germany, Nigeria, Poland, and Trinidad. The audience will join in singing beloved favorites such as “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Go, Tell It On The Mountain,” and “Silent Night,” which closes the festival.
Admission to Muskingum University’s Christmas Festival is free, though an offering will be collected to help offset expenses, and to support the New Concord Food Pantry. A reception, open to the public, will follow the New Concord performance in the Roberta A. Smith University Library.
Muskingum’s student-run radio station, WMCO 90.7 FM, will broadcast the festival at 2 p.m. on Dec. 15 and 16 and Dec. 22, 23, 24 and 25.
Founded in 1837 in New Concord, Ohio, Muskingum University emphasizes entrepreneurial and experiential learning opportunities on its campus, in the community, and around the world. Visit muskingum.edu, to learn more.
For more information about the Christmas Festival, contact the Muskingum University Music Department at 740-826-8095.
