Collegiate Singers Present Holiday Concert

The annual holiday concert by the Fairmont State University Collegiate Singers and Chamber Choir will be Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m. in the Wallman Hall Auditorium. The concert will be conducted by Dr. Jeffrey Poland with piano accompaniment by John Morrison.

Music for this program features a traditional English Christmas. The Collegiate Singers repertoire includes traditional arrangements of well-known carols and newer, less familiar carols with texts or music by British composers. Audience participation will be encouraged in a carol sing of popular favorites that have been known in Britain for centuries, such as "Deck the Hall," "Joy to the World" and "O Come, All Ye Faithful."

"Our ancestors from England brought their holiday traditions to this country, including many carols frequently sung and familiar to us all," Poland said.

The less familiar category presents compositions and arrangements by several of the leading composers and conductors in England today.

"Choir schools and cathedrals are fortunate to have Sir David Willcocks, Andrew Carter, Bob Chilcott, Stephen Cleobury and John Rutter," Poland said. "We are fortunate to have their music to sing, in particular the popular collection with some of their work called "100 Carols for Choirs."

"Among those carols chosen for this concert are "In the Bleak Mid-Winter," "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day," "Wexford Carol," "Sussex Carol," "Joys Seven," "Lord of the Dance" and "Wassail Song."

Collegiate Singers is the choral organization with open enrollment for the student body. Students in the ensemble include music majors, as well as many other academic disciplines in the university. The Chamber Choir is an auditioned ensemble which, for the holiday concert, will be leaving England to venture out into Europe and the United States for appropriate selections of the season.

Admission to the concert is free of charge and open to the public.