Bienen School to Celebrate the Holidays with Music

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Classic holiday favorites and centuries-old choral works will fill Northwestern University’s main performance hall and the Evanston campus chapel when Northwestern University celebrates the holiday season with three festive concerts.

The array of concerts will be performed by the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble and University Chorale and the Alice Millar Chapel Choir.

Presented by the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, the events will be held at Alice Millar Chapel, 1870 Sheridan Road, and Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, as noted.

Dec. 6

• A selection from Tchaikovsky’s famous holiday suite “The Nutcracker” will be among the highlights of the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The ensemble will perform Glazunov’s “Valse de concert” No. 1 in D Major; Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor; and Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” Act 1. “The Nutcracker” was first performed a week before Christmas in 1892, and since that time Tchaikovsky’s suite has become widely popular.   Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

Dec. 7   

• A Festival of Lessons and Carols will take place at 10:40 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, at Alice Millar Chapel. Conducted by Stephen Alltop, the program of this long-standing Evanston community holiday tradition will include Barlow Bradford’s “Still, Still, Still” and the “Coventry Carol” as well as Gabrieli’s “Magnificat a 14” and “O Jesu mi dulcissime.” The performance will feature oboist Michael Henoch, the Alice Millar Chapel Choir, Philharmonia and the Millar Brass Ensemble. Admission is free; an offering will be accepted.

• The Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble and University Chorale will present “Winter Wildness” at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The two choirs will perform unaccompanied works of winter, Christmas and the solstice by Bach, Gabrieli, Jonathan Dove, Toivo Tulev, Thomas Jennefelt and Eriks Esenvalds. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

For more information, call the Bienen School Concert Management Office at 847-491-5441 or visit www.pickstaiger.org. To order tickets, call the Ticket Office at 847-467-4000 or visit www.pickstaiger.org.