St. Olaf Christmas Concert is Broadcast to Movie Theatres Around the Country December 2nd

If you've ever watched the Christmas concert at St. Olaf College in Minnesota on television, this will be good news: the St. Olaf Christmas Festival, begun in 1912 by F. Melius Christiansen, founder of the St. Olaf College Music Department, will be simulcast in all its glory in movie theaters around the country on December 2^nd at 4pm Eastern, 1pm Pacific time.

Even on the small screen, the television broadcast of this event is enthralling. Every detail is perfect, and the music is of the highest quality. On a movie screen, with top-notch sound, it will be a real treat for everyone. The website information notes that the New York Times International Datebook lists this as "one of five significant global holiday events," quite a reflection on the school that produces it. Coverage has also appeared in TV Guide, The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. For more information, visit the college's site or see the ticket link below.

The program includes more than 500 students in five choirs, and the music that is selected reveals the confidence that the leaders have in the students' talent. Pieces like "Ding Dong Merrily on High" and Handel's "For Unto Us a Child is Born" demand the utmost precision from even smaller groups! The five choirs, singing individually and as a massed choir, are the St. Olaf Choir, Viking Chorus, Chapel Choir, Cantorei and Manitou Singers. The St. Olaf Orchestra will accompany them.

The music is a beautiful mix of styles and languages, evoking familiar moods and intriguing the listener with sounds from foreign lands. Chances are, everyone will find something that brings them back to joyful or contemplative Christmases past. And yes, there are handbells! There will be some Handel, carols, Silent Night (in the original German), Honegger, and finally, pieces by the founder of the festival around a hundred years ago, along with many other delights. For a program, follow this link.

The concert is presented by St. Olaf College, a Lutheran college in Minnesota, in a festive spirit but also a contemplative one, reflecting on the birth of Christ. In that spirit, they ask the audience to save applause until the end to keep the mood of the event. If you've watched this event with rapt attention in your living room, you will be delighted to experience it in a theater environment, and if you haven't seen it before, now is the time!

To get tickets, go to the fathomevents.com site, following this link or look for the event listing on December 2^nd, 2007.