Welcome Christmas!

Saturday, December 1, 2007 (8:00 pm)
Trinity Lutheran Church, Stillwater

Sunday, December 2, 2007 (4 pm)
Sunday, December 9, 2007 (4 pm)
Plymouth Congregational Church, Minneapolis

Saturday, December 8, 2007 (7:30 pm)
Normandale Lutheran Church, Edina

Tickets: 612-624-2345 or www.vocalessence.org

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (September 21, 2007) — This December, VocalEssence will welcome the holiday season with its annual Welcome Christmas! concerts on December 1, 2, 8 & 9, 2007 at a variety of churches throughout the Twin Cities area. Adult tickets are priced at $20-$35* (students half-price). For tickets and information, call 612-624-2345 or visit www.vocalessence.org.

VocalEssence holiday concerts always feature new and unusual selections. This year’s concert is no exception and will feature Norwegian composer Egil Hovland’s "The Most Beautiful Rose" for narrator (Katherine Ferrand) and women’s voices, a world premiere by Conrad Susa, and two new contest-winning carols from the 10th annual Welcome Christmas! Carol Contest.

The new piece by Conrad Susa, titled "Love-Song Serenade," is written for flute, harp and voices. The text comes from five poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The composer will travel from his home in San Francisco to Minnesota to be present at the premiere. (Conrad Susa’s Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest which VocalEssence commissioned in 1992, is a long-time favorite of VocalEssence audiences.)

The 10th annual Welcome Christmas! Carol Contest, sponsored by VocalEssence and American Composers Forum, called for new music for chorus and celesta, the small keyboard instrument familiar from its bell-like tones in The Nutcracker Suite. The winning carols from among a total of 119 submitted scores will be announced in October.

For those who yearn for a more traditional holiday celebration, Welcome Christmas! will highlight carols from the native lands of Minnesota’s early settlers — Sweden, Norway, Germany, Poland, the Ukraine and others. These holiday favorites capture the rich cultural heritage of our state and fill hearts with the warmth and joy of the season. The concert will conclude with a rousing sing-along of the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel’s Messiah.

For tickets and public information about Welcome Christmas!, call 612-624-2345. For press information and photographs, contact Katryn Conlin (612-547-1459, kconlin@vocalessence.org).

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*Service fees may apply. Student tickets half-price; group discounts available.