U.Va. Music Department To Finish Semester in a Blaze of Concerts

The McIntire Department of Music in the University of Virginia’s College of Arts & Sciences will present several concerts in early December, ranging from long-standing traditions such as the Messiah Sing-In to chamber music and Klezmer performances.

The concerts include:

  • The Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra and the University Singers will continue a festive community tradition by presenting the eighth annual Family Holiday Concerts on Dec. 1 and 2.

Michael Slon, director of the University Singers, will conduct the performances. The Dec. 1 concert begins at 8 p.m., and the Dec. 2 concert begins at 3:30 p.m. Both are in Old Cabell Hall.

Concertgoers will recognize favorites such as Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride”; selections from the film, “It’s a Wonderful Life”; “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”; “Winter Wonderland,” featuring newly appointed U.Va voice faculty member Randall Criswell Ball; and “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” with audience participation.

Tickets range from $10 to $38; U.Va students may request one complimentary ticket in advance. Tickets may be purchased at the U.Va. Arts Box Office, 434-924-3376, weekdays from noon to 5 p.m. in the lobby of the Drama Building at 109 Culbreth Road. They may also be purchased at Old Cabell Hall one hour prior to each concert or online. Tickets for this event typically sell out.

  • The 45th annual Messiah Sing-In, an event that draws members of the Charlottesville and University community to sing and perform one of the greatest oratorios ever written, will begin at 8 p.m. on Dec. 4 in Old Cabell Hall.

Donald Loach started the sing-in in 1968 as one of the first in the nation. The event has grown to include a volunteer orchestra, as well as community members, students and faculty, as well as the University Singers, the Virginia Glee Club, the U.Va. Chamber Singers and the Virginia Women’s Chorus.

Participants sit in sections arranged according to vocal part (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone), and the orchestra sits on stage. Non-singers are encouraged to listen from the loge and balcony. Copies of the vocal score will be available for those who do not have their own, and orchestral parts will be available for instrumentalists.

Tickets are $10 ($5 for students), and are available at the Arts Box Office, either online or by calling 434-924-3376.

  • The University of Virginia Klezmer Ensemble will present its fall semester performance on Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. in Old Cabell Hall.

The ensemble is directed by associate professor Joel Rubin, the music department’s director of musical performance. It focuses on the music of the klezmorim, originally the Jewish professional instrumentalists of Eastern Europe. Klezmer was brought to North America by immigrants around 1900, and has seen a dynamic revival since the 1970s in the U.S. and beyond.

The ensemble is made up of both undergraduate and graduate students from across Grounds, plus faculty, alumni and other members of the greater Central Virginia community, and is dedicated to exploring klezmer and other Jewish musical traditions from the 18th to the 21st century.

Tickets are $10 ($5 for students at the door); tickets for U.Va. students are free if reserved in advance.

The program includes Vivaldi’s “Magnificat” and Charpentier’s “Messe de Minuit pour Noël,” as well as a reconstruction of Bach chorales combined with his famed Chaconne for solo violin.

Founded in 2005 and led by Slon, the U.Va. Chamber Singers is a select ensemble drawn from the University Singers, and performs a wide variety of music for chamber choir ranging from early music to contemporary compositions.

Named for a colonial route that once spanned much of central Virginia, Three Notch’d Road was founded in 2011 by local period-instrument specialists David McCormick (baroque violin), Fiona Hughes (baroque violin) and Anne Timberlake (recorder).

Media Contact

Rob Seal

School of Continuing and Professional Studies