Sounds of the Seasons is one of my favorite programs we do every year, so it’s fitting that this year’s concert marks our return to our traditional performances since the pandemic suspended indoor shows. To mark this return, we are featuring some favorite holiday arrangements from our past concerts, with some new pieces to help us all get in the holiday mood.
Our concert includes wonderful singers, from our soloists to the Opera Birmingham Chamber Choir. Allison Sanders makes her return to Opera Birmingham after performance in The Pirates of Penzance at Avondale Park this past April. Allison is comfortable singing everything from opera to gospel, with a dramatic power to her voice which thrills audiences. Dr. Cordelia Anderson joins us in her solo debut with Opera Birmingham on this concert, with performances of reflective holiday carols. And, our artists from the Opera Birmingham Studio at Samford University will perform classic carols in arrangements by great American composers.
We have more wonderful performances ahead this spring, but I hope this concert helps us all reflect on the meaning of the season and holidays. I hope you enjoy our concert, and I wish you happy holidays and a joyous and healthy new year.
Keith A. Wolfe-Hughes
General Director
Sunday, December 19, 2021
2:30 PM
Brock Recital Hall, Samford University
Featuring
Cordelia Anderson, soprano
Allison Sanders, soprano
Christy Vest, music director
Opera Birmingham Studio at Samford University
Mike & MaryAnne Freeman Artists
DeLee Michiko Benton, soprano
Caitlyn Rodrigue, soprano
Joseph Robinson, tenor
Opera Birmingham Chamber Choir
Marissa J. Blount
Brian Denton
Chris Farley
Temperance Jones
Clay McCollum
Betsy Pate
Macey Rowland
Heather Thaxton
Michael Thaxton
Joy to the World
arr. Richard Proulx
Gesu Bambino
Pietro Yon
sung by Cordelia Anderson
We Three Kings
arr. Andy Beck
Borgoroditse Devo
Sergei Rachmaninoff
He Shall Feed His Flock, from Messiah
George Frideric Handel
sung by Allison Sanders
Sussex Carol
arr. Mark Hayes
sung by Caitlyn Rodrigue
In the Bleak Midwinter
arr. Mark Hayes
O Little Town of Bethlehem
traditional
sung by Cordelia Anderson
A Musicological Journey Through the Twelve Days of Christmas
Craig Courtney
We Need a Little Christmas, from Mame
arr. Mac Huff
Santa Baby
Joan Javits, Phil Springer and Tony Springer
sung by Marissa J. Blount
Sweet Little Jesus Boy
Robert MacGimsey
sung by Cordelia Anderson
Mary, Did You Know?
arr. Jack Schrader
sung by Allison Sanders
Away in a Manger
arr. Mark Hayes
sung by De Lee Benton
The Gift to be Simple
arr. Bob Chilcott
I Wonder As I Wander
John Jacob Niles
sung by Joseph Robinson
Christmas…In About Three Minutes
Mark Weston
Carol Sing-Along
Hallelujah, from Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration
arr. Mervyn Warren, Michael O. Jackson and Mark Kibble
Program selections subject to change
PLEASE SILENCE ALL CELL PHONES, ALARM WATCHES, AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES. NO TEXTING OR TWEETING DURING THE PERFORMANCE. THE TAKING OF PHOTOGRAPHS OR USE OF ANY TYPE OF AUDIO OR VIDEO RECORDING DEVICE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. THANK YOU!
Samford University School of the Arts
and Dr. Joseph Hopkins, Dean
Alabama Media Group is the official media sponsor of Opera Birmingham.
Principal artists for Sounds of the Season are generously sponsored by Martha Pezrow.
Pianist for Sounds of the Season is generously sponsored by Mary K. “Mimi” Jackson.
The students of the Opera Birmingham Studio at Samford University are sponsored by Michael J. and MaryAnne Freeman, in celebration of their 30th wedding anniversary.
Our season has been made possible, in part, by grants from Alabama State Council on the Arts, The Caring Foundation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, The Daniel Foundation of Alabama, Hugh Kaul Foundation, and National Endowment for the Arts.
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Student tickets are supported by The Caring Foundation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.
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Opera Birmingham acknowledges that we are on the traditional land of the Kosati speaking Mvskoke (Muscogee/Creek) People. Alabama has been home to the Alabama, Biloxi, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Mobile Tribes—including the Abihka, Alabama-Coushatta, Coosa, Tallapoosa, and the Yuchi Peoples—and is home to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama, the Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama, the Machis Lower Creek Tribe, the Mowa Band of Choctaw, and the Star Clan of Muskogee Creeks. We honor and thank the Indigenous peoples connected to this territory and give gratitude to this land.
We Need a Little Christmas - sponsored by a friend of the Opera because we definitely all need a little Christmas
Hallelujah from Handel's Messiah - dedicated to the memory of Patty McDonald by Nanci Chazen
Mary, Did You Know? - sponsored by Liz Saunders in honor of her five sons: William, Alex, Becket, Garrison and Quinton
The Twelve Days of Christmas - dedicated to the memory of Tommy Thompson by Andrew Duxbury
I Wonder as I Wander - sponsored by Tommy Bice and Ken Northrup in honor of Andrew, Bennett and Cambron Bice
Joy to the World - dedicated to the memory of my wonderful parents George and Florence Pfeil by Amy Pfeil Neimkin
Santa Baby - dedicated to the memory and honor of Patty McDonald by Michael J. and MaryAnne Freeman
Deck The Halls
Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la…
‘Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la…
Don we now our gay apparel, fa la la…
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol, fa la la…
Silent Night
Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon virgin mother and child!
Holy Infant, so tender and mild.
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise; Join the triumph of the skies.
With th’angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Opera Birmingham remembers the life of Patty McDonald, a champion of the arts in Birmingham.
