The Marshall Philharmonic Orchestra, in its 61st Season, will once again share the stage with The Marshall Community Chorus on Sunday, December 3, 2023 in their annual Christmas Celebration. The concert will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the Harold L. Lickey Auditorium of Bueker Middle School in Marshall. This concert will be under the direction of Kevin Lines and Ron Sayer.
The concert is free and open to the public and is appropriate for holiday music lovers of all ages. As per tradition for this event, attendees are asked to bring non-perishable food items to be donated to the Community Food Pantry.
Assembling and preparing over 80 musicians from all walks of life is not easy. However, all involved are quick to step up and help make every year’s event successful as they offer the gift of beautiful holiday music to the citizens of Marshall and surrounding communities.
Lines and Sayer would like to offer their sincere gratitude to all the area musicians for their time and talent, to Marshall Public Schools for the use of their facilities, to area media outlets for publicity, to Wood & Huston Bank for underwriting this concert, and to loyal audiences who support both organizations with their annual donations and presence at all concerts of the 2023-24 season.
Sunday’s program will include Christmas Carols and music from centuries old through the 20th century collected from around the world. American and English composers’ works will be featured including “Sleigh Ride” by the beloved Leroy Anderson, “Sussex Carol” by rising choral arranger Elaine Hagenberg, and “The Very Best Time of the Year” by Brittain’s esteemed John Rutter. Also included will be a mysterious and intriguing work by Brian Balmages “Fantasia on We Three Kings”. This programmatic work is an American composition depicting the journey of the three kings to Bethlehem to see the Christ child.
In honor of Christmas past, hymns on Sunday’s program will be a Robert W. Smith arrangement of “Angels, From the Realms of Glory” from 19th Century England, Gustav Holst’s “In the Bleak Mid-Winter”, arranged by Keith Christopher, and a poignant hymn dating back to 4th Century Jerusalem, “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”.
MPO and MCC organizers agree that nothing can bring the spirit of Christmas to heart like music. Texts, melodies, tone colors, harmonies, and cherished memories combine to touch deeply into our being for a soulful experience like no other.