By Emily Salvatori, Contributing Writer
The College Community Chorus and special guests will perform “Hodie: A Christmas Cantata” tomorrow, on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. The concert will be held at the J.B. Chambers Performing Arts Center of Wheeling Park High School, and doors will open to the public at 7 p.m.
“Hodie” is a very large piece that involves over 100 performers onstage. There are 70 people in the College Community Chorus, and they will be joined by a boys choir from the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus. The accompanying 44-piece orchestra is made up of some West Liberty University students and faculty and professional instrumentalists from both the Ohio Valley and Pittsburgh.
This is the last major work of the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, which first premiered in 1954. This piece is a synthesis of styles that existed throughout Vaughan Williams life, according to Dr. Scott Glysson, who calls the piece a “culmination of the composer’s life.”
“Hodie: A Christmas Cantata” is a rarely performed piece. In fact, Glysson, the show’s conductor, said, “I have never heard it performed live.” This is a great opportunity to see a seldom preformed piece.
Even though this piece has a Latin name and has some Latin in it occasionally, it is mostly in English, making it very accessible to an audience. Hodie is Latin for “This Day,” and the piece is about the birth of Christ, which fits for the upcoming holiday season.
Tickets to this rare performance are $15 for adults and children over the age of 12. Students with an ID are able to purchase tickets for $5. Tickets can be purchased at wluchoir.brownpapertickets.com.
Photo provided by Scott Glysson
