As a singer, I love the wide range of music that has been inspired by winter holidays – not just Christmas, but Hanukkah, the New Year, and even the opportunity to gather with friends and family during the dark and cold days of winter. There are over a thousand years of music, from calming lullabies to boisterous celebrations. For this year’s Sounds of the Season, I wanted to explore some of that variety and feature songs from around the world.

The first half of the concert includes traditional carols and sacred songs. From the familiar are two virtuosic arias from Handel’s Messiah and the lilting French carol “O Holy Night.” From Spain, we’ve included a Catalonian Carol “Cold December Flies Away,” which compares the coming of the Christ Child to rebirth of nature in the spring. Early American shape note singing is represented in “Brightest and Best” with its bouncing melody and boisterous singing. “The Carol of the Bells” is instantly recognizable, but we are singing it with the original Ukrainian lyrics to celebrate the coming of the New Year. And with tonight marking the beginning of the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, our singing of “Five-Sided S’vivon” will be a jazzy version of the dreidel game.

After the intermission, we return to feature a selection of American songs of the holiday. “Rise Up and See the King” and “Mary Had a Baby” bring spirituals and gospel music to life. “Roses in December” and “Night of Silence” use imagery of roses blooming as we anticipate the coming spring. And, we’ll have a little fun figuring out what to do with holiday gifts in “Twelve Days After Christmas” and relive songs from classic cartoons in a “Cartoon Christmas.”

Joining us for this concert are members of the Opera Birmingham Chorus, sharing their voices to create this beautiful music. Our artists from the Opera Birmingham Studio at Samford University are featured in classic songs from the holidays. Two talented singers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dr. Kristine Hurst-Wajszcuck and Dr. Emily Jaworski Koriath, bring their skill at both classical and popular songs to our concert.

I hope our music today brings joy and the holiday spirit to you and your family!

Happy Holidays!

Keith A. Wolfe-Hughes
General Director

presents

Sunday, December 19, 2022
2:30 PM
Brock Recital Hall, Samford University

Featuring

Kristine Hurst-Wajszczuk, soprano
Emily Jaworski Koriath, mezzo
Christy Vest, music director

Opera Birmingham Studio at Samford University
Mike & Mary Anne Freeman Artists
DeLee Michiko Benton, soprano
Caitlyn Rodrigue, soprano
Camryn Rodrigue, soprano

Opera Birmingham Chamber Choir

Justice L. Allen
Matt Cantor
Brian Denton
Drew Duncan
Alie B. Gorrie
Temperance Jones
Liza Kabachia
Joseph Robinson
Brian Shorter
Marissa Eden Talwa
Zoe Wirt

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PLEASE SILENCE ALL CELL PHONES, ALARM WATCHES, AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES. NO TEXTING DURING THE PERFORMANCE. THE TAKING OF PHOTOGRAPHS OR USE OF ANY TYPE OF AUDIO OR VIDEO RECORDING DEVICE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. THANK YOU!

INTERMISSION

Night of Silence
cast will prompt audience to join at the end of the song

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.

Joy to the World

Joy to the world, the Lord has come!
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing!

O Little Town of Bethlehem

O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent starts go by.

Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy New Year!

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;
Good tidings for Christmas and a happy New Year!

We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy New Year!

Alabama School of Fine Arts
and Alex Fokkens, Music Department Chair

Oleh Mahlay, Artistic Director of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America

Alabama Media Group is the official media sponsor of Opera Birmingham.

Kristine Hurst-Wajszczuk and Emily Jaworski Koriath are generously sponsored by Martha Pezrow.

The students of the Opera Birmingham Studio at Samford University are generously sponsored by Michael J. and Mary Anne Freeman, in celebration of Mike’s 70^th birthday.

Christy Vest is generously sponsored by Mary K. “Mimi” Jackson

Furniture for the set is on loan from Gene Paul at Delta Pawn, www.deltapawnbirmingham.com

Our season has been made possible, in part, by grants from The Caring Foundation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, The Daniel Foundation of Alabama, Hugh Kaul Foundation, 

Student tickets are supported by The Caring Foundation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.

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.

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