‘Tis the season for a holiday concert

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The School of Music Holiday Concert will take place at 2 p.m. Dec. 6, 2014.

Thanksgiving is over, which means it is now socially acceptable again to listen to holiday music, and the annual WSU Holiday Concert this Saturday is here to help.

“The holidays are something magical, and we want people to leave the show uplifted by the familiarity,” Dean Luethi, assistant professor of music, said.

Four student ensembles and their directors will come together at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Bryan Hall to perform a collection of songs dedicated to this time of year.

“It’s a very festive concert, and family friendly,” Lori Wiest, director of choral activities at WSU, said.

The concert opens with the Madrigal/Chamber Singers, who will perform in full Renaissance garb.

The ensemble will perform a number of pieces, including a contemporary version of a medieval-era song, and the classic, ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas,’” Wiest said.

Following them will be the University Singers, a non-audition group that Luethi directs. The ensemble will perform two short songs, “Hanerot Halalu” and “Fum Fum.”

“‘Hanerot Halalu’ is a Hanukkah song sung after the blessing, and while the candles are being lit” Luethi said. “It’s very simple, but it builds up, and ends with jubilation.”

The Concert Choir will follow and play a few festive songs, including “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel” and “Ding Dong Merrily on High.”

Matt Aubin, director of orchestras, will lead the Symphony Orchestra will also present during the concert and will play a selection of songs from Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet, “The Nutcracker.”

Selections from the ballet were performed in an orchestra concert last month, and the chance to play them again allows the students to sound even better, Aubin said.

The four ensembles will come together a couple times during the concert and accompany each other for Vivaldi’s “Magnificat,” and Leroy Anderson’s well known Christmas tune, “Sleigh Ride.”

“Magnificat” was inspired by the Virgin Mary musing on what Jesus’ birth meant for mankind, Luethi said, and “Sleigh Ride,” which will close the concert, was chosen because it seems to fill the air everywhere people go this time of year.

“We wanted to go out with a big bang,” Aubin said.

The concert will coincide with a number of festive events taking place in Pullman that day, including Santa Claus visiting downtown later in the afternoon, Wiest said.

Tickets will be sold before the show and cost $10 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and students, and free to children 12 and younger.

All proceeds from the concert will go to helping the various ensembles buy new music for the coming semester, purchase books, and tour.