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There's no better way to welcome Christmas than with Welcome Christmas! It's the VocalEssence holiday concert from American Public Media. Philip Brunelle and VocalEssence welcome Christmas with music for the season new and old. For over three decades, VocalEssence has been revered in Minnesota and around the world as a premier producer of innovative choral music.
Welcome Christmas!, presented once again this year by host John Birge, has become a perennial holiday favorite. It features the Minneapolis-based ensemble, VocalEssence, recognized internationally as one of America's premier choral organizations. Philip Brunelle leads the 120-voice VocalEssence Chorus and the 32-voice VocalEssence Ensemble Singers.
Program Highlights:
There's a definite Spanish accent to much of the music on this year's Welcome Christmas!. PB brings back a piece VE commissioned in 1995 showcasing Mexican-American carols. VocalEssence also features music by Diego Luzuriaga, who grew up in a farm town in Ecuador. Luzuriaga remembers collecting sticks and straw to make the stable for his family's nativity scene. After carefully arranging figures of shepherds and animals alongside Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus, he remembers the moment when everything was in place, and ready for Christmas. "Un Nacimiento" ("Nativity Scene") captures that innocent, happy childhood moment.
Luzuriaga is one of two winners of the ninth annual Welcome Christmas! Carol Contest. Both winners got their world premiere this concert. You’ll also hear seasonal favorites by Stephen Paulus and John Rutter.
Music:
Stephen Paulus: Welcome All Wonders
John Rommereim: Calm on the Listening Ear of Night
Conrad Susa: Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest
Vincent Persichetti: Winter Cantata: So Deep
Traditional: Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabelle (arr. Stephen Mager)
Mark Sirett: Thou Shalt Know Him
Spiritual: Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow arr. Leo Nestor
Edmund Walters: Little Camel Boy
Diego Luzuriaga: Un Nacimiento (Nativity Scene)
Traditional:The Twelve Days of Christmas (arr. Rutter)
