December 2012 Music Calendar

EVANSTON, ILL. --- Northwestern University will usher in the holiday season with joyful music for adult and family audiences.

Holiday-related programs presented by the Bienen School of Music include Dec. 8 and 9 performances of the 73rd Annual Holiday Concert and  “A Festival of Lessons and Carols” at Alice Millar Chapel Dec. 9, which has become a tradition on the University’s Evanston campus.

The Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble will present vocal music in the spirit of winter Dec. 4 and Northwestern University’s Chamber Orchestra will perform seasonal music Dec. 6.  

A Dec. 8 concert will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Claude Debussy’s birth by featuring some of his water-inspired works, and a Dec. 14 Keyboard Conversations concert with commentary by Jeffrey Siegel will highlight Debussy’s “Clair de lune” and include a humorous homage to Samuel Pickwick.

Members of guest vocal group (no tiny birds) will join Bienen School faculty pianist Alan Darling on stage Dec. 12 for a program of songs by Britten, Purcell and Schubert and readings from the letters of Britten and British tenor Sir Peter Pears.

All December programs listed below are open to the public. They take place on Northwestern’s Evanston campus at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive; Lutkin Hall, 700 University Place; or Alice Millar Chapel, 1870 Sheridan Road, as noted.

Construction alert

Due to construction on the south end of campus, Arts Circle Drive is currently closed to traffic. Free parking is still available on weekends and after 4 p.m. weekdays in the two-level lakefront structure located on Campus Drive. After turning onto Campus Drive from Sheridan Road, enter the parking structure on the right by way of ramps leading to the upper and lower levels. For vehicles with handicap placards, reserved spaces are available on weekends and after 4 p.m. weekdays in the lot directly west of Louis Hall. For more construction and parking information, visit www.pickstaiger.org/construction.

Ticket prices are indicated in two ranges: the first for the general public and the second for full-time students with IDs. Northwestern faculty and staff with a valid WildCARD ID receive a 15 percent discount off the general public ticket price.

For more information, call the Pick-Staiger Concert Office at (847) 491-5441 or visit the Pick-Staiger website at www.pickstaiger.org. To order tickets, call the Pick-Staiger Ticket Office at (847) 467-4000 or visit www.pickstaiger.org.

DECEMBER 2012 EVENTS

Concert Band, 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Daniel J. Farris conducts students from across the Northwestern campus in a concert of band standards. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

Women’s Chorus, 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, Lutkin Hall. Directed by Jennifer Budziak, Northwestern’s Women’s Chorus, composed mainly of non-voice majors, sings a variety of works from all eras of one thousand years of polyphony, exploring the repertoire of music for treble voices. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

Philharmonia, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Robert G. Hasty will conduct the orchestra of non-music majors in a performance featuring Vasily Kalinnikov’s Symphony No. 1 in G Minor and Bizet’s “L’Arlesienne” Suite No. 2. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble, “At Winter’s Edge,” 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Donald Nally will conduct a performance of early and contemporary vocal music in the spirit of winter. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

Contemporary Music Ensemble, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Timothy J. Robblee will conduct a performance featuring works by Wolfgang Rihm and his contemporaries, including music by Luigi Nono. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Robert G. Hasty will direct the University’s chamber orchestra in a program featuring Mozart’s German Dances, Glazunov’s “Winter” from “The Seasons,” Frank Bridge’s “Sir Roger de Coverley: A Christmas Dance” and Hindemith’s Suite from “Tuttifantchen.” Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

Symphonic Band, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Timothy J. Robblee will direct the Symphonic Band in a program that features Shafer Mahoney’s “Sparkle,” John Paynter’s arrangement and Rob Taylor’s compilation of selected Sir Malcolm Arnold suites, Gounod’s “Petite symphonie” and Eric Whitacre’s “Equus.” Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

73rd Annual Holiday Concert, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The concert will feature a contemporary setting of the Songs of Mary and Simeon by composer James MacMillan, which includes “Magnificat” and “Nunc dimittis” and two interpretations of the angels’ song to the shepherds in the “Glorias” of Bach and Poulenc. Donald Nally directs the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra and University Chorale. Tickets are $12 for the general public and $6 for students with valid IDs.

“Watercolors: Music of Claude Debussy,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, Lutkin Hall. Debussy drew inspiration from water imagery and used it with endless imagination to explore the piano’s rich tonal range and sonority. Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Debussy’s birth, the concert, coordinated by James Giles, will feature water-inspired pieces by Debussy, his French compatriots and other composers performed by Bienen School of Music piano students. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

A Festival of Lessons and Carols, 10:40 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, Alice Millar Chapel. In this beloved holiday tradition, the story of Christmas is portrayed in readings and carols for brass, strings, organ, percussion and choir. Directed by Stephen Alltop and featuring members of the Philharmonia and Alice Millar Chapel Choir, this year’s festival will include Eric Whitacre’s new “Alleluia,” faculty member Michael Henoch in music for oboe and orchestra and selections by Bach, Bob Chilcott, Daniel Kallman, Praetorius and the Bienen School’s 2012 Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition winner Aaron Jay Kernis. Admission is a freewill offering.

“My Beloved is Mine: Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears,” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, Lutkin Hall. Bienen School of Music opera program coach and pianist Alan Darling is joined by his colleagues from the group (no tiny birds), comprised of soprano Julie Tabash, mezzo-soprano Eli Sutherland, tenor Marcus Shields and baritone Stephen Richardson. The ensemble is dedicated to exploring new presentations of the art song recital. Their program features songs by Britten, Purcell and Schubert, framed by readings from the letters of Britten and Pears. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

Keyboard Conversations, “Claude Debussy: Clair de lune, Fireworks and Beyond,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. In addition to Debussy’s “Clair de lune” and “Fireworks,” the “concert with commentary” features pianist Jeffrey Siegel’s humorous homage to Samuel Pickwick, “Girl with the Flaxen Hair” and “Isle of Joy.” Tickets are $22 for the general public and $16 for students.