Christmas Vespers brighten holidays Dec. 7
Christmas Vespers, one of Lehigh’s most cherished holiday traditions, will be held at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, in Packer Memorial Church.
There are no tickets for the two performances, so patrons are encouraged to arrive an hour early. Doors open a half hour before each service. The Vespers performances are the annual holiday gift to the community by Lehigh University Choral Arts, under the direction of Steven Sametz.
This year’s performances also will feature Debra Field, associate director, Timothy Harrell, university organist, and the Southside Brass. Among the highlights will be the premiere of a revised version of Angel Fire, a work by Sametz originally commissioned by the Cathedral Choral Society for performance at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
For years, Sametz has created a new arrangement at Christmas of Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming for the Lehigh University Choral Arts. This year, the carol is heard as a distant and wordless angelic response to the choir’s singing, “Light is born of Light this night—An end to all despair” and accompanies the choral setting of Good Christian Friends Rejoice.
The program also will feature “Gloria” from The Masque of Angels by Domenick Argento, What are you seeking, O Son by Richard Pygott, Kyrie and “Sanctus” from the Mass in E Minor by Anton Bruckner, the traditional spiritual This Little Light of Mine, and Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming, by Michael Praetorius.
There are no tickets for the two performances, so patrons are encouraged to arrive an hour early. Doors open a half hour before each service. The Vespers performances are the annual holiday gift to the community by Lehigh University Choral Arts, under the direction of Steven Sametz.
This year’s performances also will feature Debra Field, associate director, Timothy Harrell, university organist, and the Southside Brass. Among the highlights will be the premiere of a revised version of Angel Fire, a work by Sametz originally commissioned by the Cathedral Choral Society for performance at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
For years, Sametz has created a new arrangement at Christmas of Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming for the Lehigh University Choral Arts. This year, the carol is heard as a distant and wordless angelic response to the choir’s singing, “Light is born of Light this night—An end to all despair” and accompanies the choral setting of Good Christian Friends Rejoice.
The program also will feature “Gloria” from The Masque of Angels by Domenick Argento, What are you seeking, O Son by Richard Pygott, Kyrie and “Sanctus” from the Mass in E Minor by Anton Bruckner, the traditional spiritual This Little Light of Mine, and Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming, by Michael Praetorius.
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Tuesday, November 18, 2003
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