Juletide holiday concert unites School of Music


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CMU’s School of Music holds a holiday collage concert, Juletide, at the Staples Family Concert Hall, Dec 4.

The air filled with conversations about holiday plans as people clambered to find seats in time for the concert to begin.

Red and green lights lit up the stage. To either side, lights projected in the shape of Christmas tree.

Juletide was a holiday collage concert held at the Staples Family Concert Hall on Saturday and Sunday. Sponsored by CMU’s School of Music, it included performances from a brass ensemble, an organ player, the Concert Choir, the Chamber Singers and the Women’s Chorus.

“This was my first Juletide,” Nashville sophomore Ben MacDonald said. “I heard great things about last year’s (event). I don’t know how you could watch that and not smile the whole time.”

Throughout the show, the choirs situated in different areas of the concert hall. The concert choir began onstage, while the chamber singers stood off in the left of the hall. The women’s chorus filled the entire back section of the auditorium. They rotated every other song so each performance group could take the main stage.

The choirs and musicians performed more than 20 songs. During three of these — “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Deck the Halls” and “Joy to the World” — the audience was encouraged to sing along, and sing along they did.

At some points, the voices of the audience members were louder than the choirs’ members. After the final notes of “Joy to the World” rang out, the performers were met with a standing ovation.

People gathered in the lobby of the music building after the show to congratulate the performers.

“We came to see our roommate. She performed in it,” Holland freshman Ashley Streng said.

Mount Pleasant senior Sean Bradley said Juletide was the first concert he’s been to this year.

“That’s probably bad to say as a music major,” Bradley said. “I’m leaving Central after this semester to student teach, and I figured it would be good to see something before I left.”

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