December 5 Christmas Concert Launches New Paul Hill Choral Scholarship

Washington Adventist University’s annual Christmas Concert on December 5 at 7:30 p.m. is free and open to the public. Students from the university’s Music Department will perform traditional Christmas music, along with pieces that reflect the spirit of the season.

There will be performances by the Pro Musica of Washington Adventist University, the Columbia Collegiate Chorale of Washington Adventist University, and the New England Youth Ensemble of Washington Adventist University.

This year’s Christmas Concert event will launch a new scholarship for choral students – The Paul Hill Memorial Choral Scholarship Fund – and donations are welcome. The scholarship will honor the legacy of one of Washington Adventist University’s renowned faculty members – Paul Hill, the choral program director from 1962 to 1970 and founder of the university’s Pro-Musica choral performance group. Hill was also founder of the acclaimed 160-voice Paul Hill Chorale that performed in 1971 at the opening of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and continued to perform there under his leadership for more than two decades until his death in 1999.

The concert will be held at Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church, 7700 Carroll Ave., Takoma Park, Md. 20912. Free parking is available directly across Flower Ave. and behind the church along Greenwood Ave.

For more information about the concert, call 301-891-4133 or email alumni@wau.edu.

This year, Washington Adventist University is celebrating its 110th anniversary. The institution was established in 1904 as the Washington Training College to educate young men and women in the liberal arts. Over the years, the institution has been known as the Washington Foreign Mission Seminary, Washington Missionary College, and during the past half century as Columbia Union College until 2009, when the school attained university status.