Choirs, Bands to Sing In, Ring In, Sounds of the Season
This holiday season, Rider University will be mixing old traditions with new ones during winter concerts held on the Lawrenceville campus. All concerts are free and open to the public.
The Rider University Band and the Blawenburg Band, under the direction of conductor Dr. Jerry Rife, will perform a winter concert on Monday, December 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Yvonne Theater, located inside the Fine Arts Building. The Rider University community can also enjoy two holiday concerts on Sunday, December 7. The Princeton “British Style” Brass Band, conducted by Dr. Steve Allen, will perform a Holiday Special featuring many holiday favorites, along with selections from the James Bond, Indiana Jones and Superman films at 2 p.m. in the Yvonne Theater. Then the Rider University Choir and the new Rider Chapel Choir will present their winter concert Joy & Peace! at 3 p.m. in the Gill Chapel.
The Rider University Choir traditionally includes a larger ensemble of students and requires no auditions. This year, the University Choir not only has a new conductor, Mr. Philip Orr, but it also now encompasses members from the entire Rider community of students, faculty and staff.
Under the direction of Dr. Ronnie Oliver, who also co-directs the Westminster Chapel Choir, the Rider Chapel Choir is a new 24-member ensemble selected by audition from the entire student body. The new chapel choir was formed to meet the needs of students, who have more of a background in music, explained Oliver.
The December 1 performance will feature the Rider University Band and Blawenburg Band opening with a march, which will lead into a slow, impressionistic piece by Gabriel Faure, called Pavan. A special highlight of the show will feature steel drums during a Jamaican piece entitled Fan Danggo.
The second half the band concert will feature classic holiday tunes like Sleigh Ride and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. The band will also play a slow, gorgeous arrangement of the vocal piece, O Magnum Mysterium.
“It’s going to be a blast,” Rife promised. “No one is bored at my concerts.”
Orr and Oliver both said the December 7 choir concert will feature something for everyone. Songs will range from the more traditional and sacred melodies to unique arrangements and secular classics of the season.
“This concert will be appealing to all ages,” added Orr, who will be accompanied by Derrick Goff on the piano and organ. Aside from the music, the concert will also feature two class readings, Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus and The Legend of the Christmas Rose. Readers will be Leah Sanginiti, a freshman Music Theater major, and Tim Joya, a freshman Fine Arts major.
Rider University Choir will perform arrangements of A Boy Was Born, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, Puer natus est and Merry Christmas, Mozart. The University Choir will treat the audience to a special jazz arrangement by Orr, himself, of Angels We Have Heard on High.
Orr said the audience will be moved by the Cathedral sounds of Cristobal de Morales’ Puer natus est, a 16th-century Spanish piece that includes three interwoven melodies.
“It’s an objectively beautiful piece,” he added.
The Men of the University Choir will sing Randall Thompson’s Stopping By Woods. The Women of the University Choir will perform the carol Ther is no Rose. Soloists will include Laura Connell, a senior Elementary Education and Psychology dual major; Jordana Gross, a junior Biology major; Sallie Gordon, administrative specialist in the College of Business Administration; Kristin Vitacco, a junior Communication major; Whitney Haddard, a freshman Journalism major; Lauren Hagner, a sophomore Psychology major; Kerry Mackalonis, a sophomore Elementary Education and Psychology dual major; and Karen Meilands, a sophomore Advertising major. They will also perform Poor Mary, featuring soloist Marissa DiPilla, a freshman Fine Arts major.
The Chamber Singers of the University Choir will perform S’vivon, arranged by former Westminster Choir College Artistic Director Joseph Flummerfelt, and A La Nanita Nana, traditional Spanish lullaby, featuring soloist Kelly Rivera, a junior from the College of Continuing Studies.
The Rider Chapel Choir, accompanied by Akiko Hosaki, will perform holiday favorites Carol of the Bells, Ave Maria, Caroling, Caroling, along with the Hebrew piece Ose Shalom (Give Us Peace). They will also perform a new arrangement of Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella and a soft jazz arrangement of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, featuring Zach Schanne, a freshman Fine Arts major, as soloist.
