SFA School of Music to present Williams' 'This Day' in annual holiday concert
November 28, 2016
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The combined choirs at Stephen F. Austin State University, along with the Orchestra of the Pines, will present SFA's traditional holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the university campus.The highly anticipated annual celebration will feature "Hodie," or "This Day," a Christmas cantata by the great English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, according to Dr. Tim King, director of choral activities for the SFA School of Music.
"This exhilarating telling of the Christmas story was composed between 1953 and 1954," King said. "It was Williams' last major choral-orchestral composition and was premiered under his baton at Worcester Cathedral as part of the Three Choirs Festival on Sept. 8, 1954.
"The cantata, in 16 movements, is scored for treble chorus, mixed chorus organ and orchestra, and it will feature our SFA voice faculty soloists," he said. Those include Charlotte Davis, Scott LaGraff and Richard G. Leonberger.
The program will also include the popular Christmas carol sing-a-long that has become a favorite feature of the annual event, King said.
The concert is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music. Turner Auditorium is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.