McDaniel College Presents Popular Annual Musical Performances in December Featuring Montgomery County Residents

McDaniel College presents December musical performances featuring Montgomery County residents. The performances are free and open to the public.

For more information, call 410-857-2599. Visit www.mcdaniel.edu/music for information about the college and the music department. 

College Choir Concert

McDaniel’s 56th annual tree lighting ceremony follows the concert

Sunday, December 2, 7 p.m.

Baker Memorial Chapel at McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster, Md.

The college choir, under the direction of Margaret Boudreaux, music professor and department chair, celebrates Shakespeare with “The Fanciful Spirit: Songs Inspired by Shakespeare and Others.” The choir is accompanied by senior lecturer in music David Kreider on piano. McDaniel’s 56th annual tree lighting ceremony follows the concert. 

The featured work is “In Windsor Forest” by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Other works include the classic spiritual “Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit” by William Dawson and a variety of seasonal works, such as settings of the Hanukkah song “Y'mei Chanukah,” the German folk carol “Still, Still, Still,” a Chilean work “Villancico de Cuzco,” as well as “Throw the Yule Log On, Uncle John” by P.D.Q. Bach. The concert also includes the Maryland premiere of a new setting of “Sonnet 128” by Robert Cohen.

According to Boudreaux, “The majority of pieces use texts from Shakespeare plays, such as ‘Tell me where is fancy bred,’ ‘Blow, blow thou winter wind,’ ‘Sigh no more ladies,’ ‘O mistress mine, where are you going?’ and ‘Take, oh take those lips away.’ Some of these well known texts will be sung in multiple settings by a variety of composers and in diverse styles.” 

Members of the choir from Montgomery County are senior Lisa Staples of Burtonsville, Md., sophomore Lucas Frangou of Silver Spring, Md., and freshmen Jasmine Nuñez of Aspen Hill, Md., and Mehar Segal of Germantown, Md. 

Jazz Night

Thursday, December 6, 8 p.m.

Decker Center Forum at McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster, Md.

Jazz Night is directed by Bo Eckard, senior lecturer in music, and highlights the Thursday Jazz Ensemble, Monday Jazz Ensemble, and the five-piece Jazz Combo. Styles of jazz represented include classic big band swing, bebop, Latin, Funk, Jazz-rock and Tin Pan Alley. 

Student performers from Montgomery County are senior Noah Patton of Montgomery Village, Md., juniors Kevin Alexander of Bethesda, Md., and Gram Arnsberger of Gaithersburg, Md., and freshman Norman Lezama of Rockville, Md.

College Band Concert

Friday, December 7, 7 p.m.

WMC Alumni Hall at McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster, Md. 

Under the direction of Linda Kirkpatrick, senior lecturer in music, the College Band Concert features musical selections from classical to pops. The band features more than 60 students, including freshman Norman Lezama of Rockville, Md., McDaniel alumni, and community musicians, as well as McDaniel music faculty members Mark Lortz and Jon Seligman.

Selections include “The Boys of Wexford” by Robert Dwyer Joyce and arranged by Sammy Nestico, “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson, “Farandole” (from “L’Arlesienne”) by Georges Bizet, Symphonic Dance No. 3, “Fiesta” by Clifton Williams and “Sacred Heart” by Jay Bocook.

The concert also features three pieces conducted by McDaniel students, including Victor Herbert’s “March of the Toys/Toyland," Andre Jutrus’ “C’est Noel (It is Christmas)” and Franz Gruber’s “Stille Nacht."

Gospel Choir Concert

Sunday, December 9, 3 p.m.

WMC Alumni Hall at McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster, Md. 

McDaniel College’s Gospel Choir, under the direction of Eric Byrd, music lecturer, performs spirituals, as well as traditional and contemporary gospel music. Among the selections are “Happy,” “After This,” and “Awesome.” Opening the concert is Voices of Praise, a smaller ensemble consisting of select members of the Gospel Choir.

Gospel Choir members from Montgomery County include senior Margaret O'Connor of Silver Spring, Md., and juniors Jennifer Bland of Olney, Md., Merary Gutierrez of Silver Spring, Md., and Bodeshi Husen of Takoma Park, Md.

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McDaniel College, recognized nationally among 40 Colleges that Change Lives and U.S. News top-tier liberal arts colleges, is a four-year private college of the liberal arts and sciences offering more than 60 undergraduate programs of study, including dual and student-designed majors, plus 20 highly regarded graduate programs. Its hallmark faculty-student     collaborations in research, teaching and mentoring plus hundreds of leadership and service opportunities enrich a lively learning experience that is rooted in a personalized interdisciplinary and global curriculum. Innovative January courses take students to points all over the world while McDaniel’s degree-granting European campus offers a unique opportunity for international study at the only American university in Budapest, Hungary. A diverse and close-knit community of 1,600 undergraduates and 1,560 part-time graduate students, McDaniel also boasts a spectacular 160-acre hilltop campus in Westminster, Md., an hour or less from Baltimore, D.C., the Chesapeake Bay, an Amtrak station and BWI international airport.