Master Chorale To Perform

Annual Holiday Prelude Concert

BETHEL — The Connecticut Master Chorale, under the direction of Tina Johns Heidrich, will present its annual Holiday Prelude concert on Sunday, November 22, at 3 pm, at St Mary Church, 46 Dodgingtown Road (Route 302).

Heralding in the holiday season, the chorale will perform a variety of festive music including spirituals, lullabies, multi-cultural numbers and other selections. The concert will open with the joyful “Hodie, Christus Natus Est (Today Christ Is Born)” and will also include John Rutter’s beautifully moving setting of “Ave Maria,” and an innovative new klezmer-like arrangement of the Catalonian carol “Fum, Fum, Fum.”

The program will feature “Christmas Cantata — The Incarnation,” a grand and glorious choral work in five movements with brass and percussion by K. Lee Scott. A stunning new arrangement of Robert Burns’ “Auld Lang Syne” uses the tune that the Scots poet originally intended rather than the one that is usually heard today.

Back again by popular demand, steel drums will accompany the Chorale in the Christmas spiritual “Here’s a Pretty Little Baby” and also in “Calypso Carol,” which has a distinctive island flavor. “Christmas Classic Celebration” is a blend of beloved carols with well-known choruses by the great masterworks composers, while a poignant arrangement of “Mary, Did You Know?” anticipates the baby’s purpose on earth. The concert will conclude with the rousing, exuberant gospel number “Down In Bethlehem!”

The Connecticut Master Chorale is an ensemble of 55 professional-caliber vocalists in their 11th year of singing in western Connecticut. In addition to their regular three-concert season, the Chorale has performed by invitation at The White House, Lincoln Center and three times at Carnegie Hall. They have also performed as guests of Ridgefield Symphony and West Point Military Academy. They won the McDonald’s Gospelfest Competition for three consecutive years and appeared on ABC TV and at Madison Square Garden. Their recordings are frequently heard on WMNR Fine Arts Radio.

Newtown residents in the Chorale are Judy Bolduc, Ginnie Carey, Lisa Cedergren, David Jurman, Karen Orzechowski, Nancy Raymond, Pastor Gregory Wismar, and Dan Yee.

The Chorale will be accompanied by the Connecticut Master Chorale Holiday Brass and Joseph Jacovino, Jr., on piano.

Additional parking for the concert is available in the upper parking lot of Bethel High School with a free shuttle bus to and from the concert. Doors open at 2:15.

Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Call 743-0473 or visit www.CMChorale.org for more information.