November 23, 2009

On Sunday, December 6th at 7 PM, the Concert Band will fill the Mandell Theater with the celebratory and joyful sounds of Christmas and Chanukah. As a kickoff for this year's holiday season, the concert will feature the world premiere of Music instructor Darin Kelly's Of Nights and Lights: A Chanukah Celebration and includes other holiday highlights such as Bizet's March of the Three Kings, Alfred Reed's Russian Christmas Music and Curnow's Prelude on Oh God Our Help in Ages Past. Dr. Myron Moss leads the Concert Band in this free evening performance, which brings to a conclusion a week of performances from Drexel's Music program.

But don't wait till the last night to catch a concert. Starting Tuesday, December 1st, the music program will present a week of concerts beginning with the Guitar & Fusion Ensembles. Led by Joe Napoli (Guitar Ensemble) and Lynn Riley (Fusion Band), these two ensembles will jump start the week with music from the likes of everything from Herbie Hancock to John Lennon. On Thursday, December 3rd, the Jazz Orchestra and Jazztet, led by Dr. George Starks, will perform the music of jazz legends starting at 8 PM, turning the Mandell Theater into a swinging jazz joint. We'll slow things on Friday, December 4th with Wanda Canfield's Keyboard Ensemble. They'll perform the classics, from Mozart to Bach, at 7:30 PM. If by Saturday you've grown tired of the Mandell Theater, head over to the AJ Drexel Picture Gallery in the Main Building and enjoy the String Ensemble, under the direction of Ron Lipscomb, as they perform a Vivaldi Concerto and Tchaikovsky's String Serenade at 3 PM. Later that evening our Gospel Choir, led by Reverend Greg Ross, will sing inspirational songs from the Book of Romans at 7:30PM.