2008 Woodie Awards
Collegiate Chorale hopes to draw large crowd with free concert
Chad Wellinger
Issue date: 12/7/07 Section: Campus
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The concert, titled "Collegiate Chorale Christmas Concert," is the group's first holiday concert in two years and is a free event, open to the public and does not require a ticket.
"Everybody likes holiday music," associate professor of music and conductor Ethan Sperry said. "It's the last day of classes-I think it's a perfectly good thing to go out and listen to some Christmas carols."
Collegiate Chorale President Kate Garbarek agrees.
"Audiences always say that they enjoy the break in finals with familiar, holiday music with upbeat melodies," Garbarek said.
The list of songs to be performed include 11 Christmas carols such as "O Holy Night," "Silent Night" and "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire," in addition to two French-language songs about roses. Also included will be three songs from Miami's Global Rhythms concert-"Chale Chalo," "Ramta Jogi" and "Barso Re"-which will all be accompanied by percussion instruments.
Both Sperry and Garbarek say the choir's holiday concerts are usually immensely popular with students, but the thought of Christmas carols also lures many from the Oxford community as well.
"I think in some ways our holiday concerts get a larger community audience than student (audience)," Sperry said.
There has been some concern among choir members about this year's decreased ticket sales and attendance at concerts. Ticket sales for Collegiate Chorale's fall concert with the Glee Club were down this year, while the concert has historically sold out.
"It's been a trend campus wide," Sperry said. "Attendance at arts events campus wide has been decreasing over the past three years. I'm more concerned about raising attendance second semester because people are going to show up to a holiday concert no matter what."
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