Thursday Scholarship Series Holiday Concert, a Community Tradition

Get into the holiday spirit with an evening of music thatcelebrates the Holiday Season with a program of sacred and secular music. The University of Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s annual Holiday Concert will take place on Thursday, November 29th and Friday, November 30th at 7:30 each night on the Hodgson Hall stage. Audiences will be able to enjoy the talents of hundreds of singers and instrumentalists from the choral and large ensembles of the School of Music.

“The sheer size and scope of the performing forces make this concert special.  That the concert comes at the end of the semester as the Holidays approach, makes it particularly fun for such a collaboration for our students and faculty,” says Daniel Bara, the John D. Boyd UGA Foundation Professor of Choral Music and the Director of Choral Activities.

Performing will be theMen’s and Women’s Glee Clubs, University Chorus, Hodgson Singers, African American Choral Ensemble, the UGA Symphony Orchestra, British Brass Band, and several vocal soloists. The conductors will be music faculty members Daniel Bara, JD Burnett, Mark Cedel, Gregory Broughton, Phil Smith, and graduate conducting student Jean Gomez.

Repertoire for the performance includes the “Act II Pas de Deux” from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker,” movements from John Rutter’s “Magnificat,” as well asa performance of “Bless Us All,” from The Muppet Christmas Carol. Under the baton of bandmaster and William F. and Pamela P. Prokasy Professor in the ArtsPhilip Smith, the British Brass Band will delight with an audience sing-a-long of “I’ll be Home for Christmas.”The evening will close with a combined choral and orchestral arrangement by Gary Fry that features singing in Swahili and Spanish, as well as an arrangement of the perennial holiday favorite, “O Holy Night.”  

  “We have tried to select music that would be accessible and appealing to a broad audience, and which offers a celebration of the season through the lens of several cultures and styles of music, ranging from classical ballet to South African to Gospel,” says Dr. Bara.

As part of the Thursday Scholarship Series, the proceeds from this concert are instrumental in helping to offer scholarships to deserving young musicians. “Hundreds of these musicians will be on display for this special concert, so it really feels like a celebration and showcase of the talent, collegiality and the achievements of our school as much as a much as a themed holiday concert,” says Dr. Bara.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $6 for students and children and can be purchased online at pac.uga.edu or by calling the Performing Arts Center Box Office at 706-542-4400. For those unable to attend the concert, live streaming will be available online at music.uga.edu/live-streaming.