UF offers free holiday concert at Phillips

December 2, 2010

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida President Bernie Machen and the College of Fine Arts School of Music invite the UF community to a holiday concert at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Phillips Center for Performing Arts.

“I have planned a toe-tapping program for this year’s Sounds of the Season, which I have fondly subtitled, ‘Bebop Bells All the Way’,” said Will Kesling, the concert’s principal conductor and producer. “I have attempted to use a Boston Pops program format for this musical holiday celebration.”

This concert has traditionally been presented in the University Auditorium, but audiences have grown so large that a few hundred people were turned away last year because the auditorium was filled to capacity.

With Machen’s support, the concert will be staged in the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The concert is free to the public; tickets will be distributed at the door up to one hour before the concert begins.

There will be nearly 300 performers providing the program. Student singers from the University of Florida Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Women’s Chorale and Men’s Glee Club will render an eclectic program. Also participating are the Gainesville Civic Chorus, the Gainesville Philharmonic Orchestra and faculty artists from the School of Music.

The concert will open with a fanfare processional on the carol “We Thee Kings.” The Women’s Chorale will sing with a brass flourish, “Christmas Intrada.” The Gainesville Philharmonic will pick up the seasonal theme with the Leroy Anderson favorite, “A Christmas Festival.” The Men’s Glee Club will entertain with a rendition of “Jingle Bells.”

Many other selections are on the program.

For more information, call 352-392-0223.