Northwestern Music in December

EVANSTON, Ill. --- To celebrate the December holiday season, Northwestern University’s Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music will present A Festival of Lessons and Carols and its 74th Annual Holiday Concert, among other programs.

All December events listed below are open to the public. They take place on the University’s Evanston campus at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive; Regenstein Recital Hall, 60 Arts Circle Drive; or Alice Millar Chapel, 1870 Sheridan Road, as noted.

Concert 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 receive a 15 percent discount off the general public ticket price.

For more information, call the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall office at (847) 491-5441. To order tickets, call (847) 467-4000.

For series brochures, call (847) 491-5441 or email requests to pick-staiger@northwestern.edu. Visit the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall online for video and audio clips, photos and up-to-date information on upcoming events. To receive a monthly events newsletter and special discount offers, email pick-staiger@northwestern.edu.

Go online for updates on parking and directions.

DECEMBER 2013

Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. German master Wolfgang Rihm's “Astralis” for choir, cello and timpani creates a slow meditation on a work by German poet Novalis. This hymn-like extended work, conducted by Donald Nally, will be complemented by works of Eriks Esenvalds, Gabriel Jackson and others, with music appropriate to the advent season. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for full-time students with IDs.

Small Jazz Ensembles: Composition 601 -- Student Holiday Arrangements, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, Regenstein Recital Hall. Victor Goines, Christopher Madsen and Marlene Rosenberg will conduct a program featuring new arrangements of holiday favorites by jazz studies students. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for full-time students with IDs.

Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Victor Yampolsky will conduct Mozart’s Symphony No. 33 in B-flat Major and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3 in D Minor. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for full-time students with IDs.

Symphonic Band, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Timothy J. Robblee will conduct a program that includes Roshanne Etezady’s “Anahita,” Michael Colgrass’ “Bali” and other works. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for full-time students with IDs.

Contemporary Music Ensemble, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Timothy J. Robblee will conduct works by leading European contemporary composers, including Georg Friedrich Haas and Salvatore Sciarrino, and a world premiere by a Bienen School composition student. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for full-time students with IDs.

A Festival of Lessons and Carols, 10:40 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, Alice Millar Chapel. As part of Alice Millar Chapel’s 50th anniversary celebration, the program will include Advent and Christmas favorites for brass, strings, oboe, organ, percussion and choir. New carols by Bob Chilcott and Daniel Kallman will add fresh joy to the holiday tradition. It will be conducted by Stephen Alltop and feature the Alice Millar Chapel Choir, Philharmonia, Millar Brass Ensemble and oboist Michael Henoch. Admission is a freewill offering.

74th Annual Holiday Concert, 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra and University Chorale celebrate the holiday with sacred works. The program includes Gerald Finzi's “In Terra Pax,” Estonian master Arvo Part's “Salve Regina,“ Sebastian Currier's “Night Mass” and Mendelssohn’s “Verleih uns Frieden gnadiglich.” Donald Nally will conduct. Tickets are $12 for the general public and $6 for full-time students with IDs.