Bienen School of Music celebrates the season with winter holiday concerts

Student ensembles from the Bienen School of Music will ring in the winter holiday season with two in-person concerts Dec. 4 and 5 on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus. Featured performing ensembles will include the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, Alice Millar Chapel Choir, Philharmonia and Millar Brass Ensemble.

A concert of light holiday classics showcasing Bienen School conducting students will be presented at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Saturday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. “A Festival of Lessons and Carols,” the beloved annual tradition, returns to Alice Millar Chapel, Sunday, Dec. 5 at 10:40 a.m.

Both holiday concerts are free and open to the public. In accordance with the University’s health and safety protocols, audience members are required to wear masks while indoors. For more information, visit the Bienen School website.

The holiday concert schedule is as follows:

Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra
Light Holiday Classics: Conducting Student Showcase
Saturday, Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m.
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
50 Arts Circle Drive

Graduate assistant conductors Jake Taniguchi, Moyue Zhou, Andrew Ritchie, Yuxin Dai, Alexander Chen and Jennifer Huang lead the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra in a program of holiday favorites. The program features selections from Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel”; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite,” Op. 71a; W. A. Mozart’s “Exsultate, jubilate,” K. 165/158, with soprano soloist Helaine Liebman; W. A. Mozart’s “Die Schlittenfahrt” (Sleigh Ride) in G Major from “3 Deutsche Tänze” (Three German Dances), K. 605; Frederick Delius’s “Sleigh Ride”; Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride”; and Leroy Anderson’s “A Christmas Festival Overture.” Tickets are free of charge and may be reserved from the Bienen School Ticket Office by visiting concertsatbienen.org or calling 847-467-4000.

“A Festival of Lessons and Carols”
Sunday, Dec. 5, 10:40 a.m.
Alice Millar Chapel
1870 Sheridan Road

The annual tradition of combining readings and musical gems to portray the Christmas miracle returns to Alice Millar Chapel. This year’s program, conducted by Stephen Alltop and with organist Eric Budzynski, features carol settings from medieval to modern for brass, strings, organ and choir from Haiti, Mexico, Latvia, Poland and many other places and cultures around the globe. Admission is free and tickets are not required. A freewill offering will be accepted.