The 2016-17 Wittenberg Series continues at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, with the annual Lessons and Carols for Advent and Christmas service at Wittenberg University’s Weaver Chapel. The event is free and open to the public, with pre-service music beginning at 7 p.m.
The theme of the service is “Before the Marvel of this Night” based on a choral piece of the same name. Music will be provided by more than 125 musicians, including the Wittenberg Choir and the Wittenberg Singers directed by Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Erik Zinter, the Wittenberg Handbell Choir directed by Professor Emerita of Music Trudy Faber, and the Wittenberg Chamber Orchestra directed by Associate Professor of Music Brandon Jones. University Organist and Adjunct Instructor of Music David Crean and Adjunct Instructor Laurie Smith, piano, will accompany the choirs.
The chapel will be prepared by David B. and Carol Matevia Endowed University Pastor Rachel Tune. Readers come from faculty, staff and the community. Among this year’s readers for the service will be Michael Collier, son of Matthew Collier, professor of biology, and Kristen Collier, director of community service. Ella Zinter, the daughter of Erik Zinter, will sing a solo on the opening verse of “Once in Royal David’s City.” Other readers include Mary Jo Zembar, interim provost and professor of psychology; Rev. Larry Grunden, Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church, Springfield; Patrick Reynolds, assistant professor of theatre and dance; Mary Lasits, senior associate director of leadership giving and an ELCA diaconal minister; and Jessica Hamm ’17, president of the Wittenberg Choir.
As in past years, the ceremony begins with a Procession of Light, at which time the chapel is enveloped in darkness and gradually illuminated by the lighting of hundreds of candles. The music for the processional will be “This is the Truth Sent from Above” by Ralph Vaughn Williams, sung by the Wittenberg Choir with Anna Fox ‘19, soloist, alternating with a series of “change rings” by the Wittenberg Handbell Choir, as Weaver Chapel slowly becomes illuminated.
Other choral music in the 2016 Lessons and Carols for Advent and Christmas service includes a set of German carols, “In dulici jubilo” and “Rejoice, Rejoice this Happy Morn.” A third German carol, “Vom Himmel Hoch,” will be performed by the bell choir. A congregational singing of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” will also take place.
Instrumental music will include Ralph Vaughan Williams' “Fantasia on Greensleeves” and “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” for orchestra. Mary Beth Bechler ’17 will again provide a solo on the harp of “I Wonder as I Wander.” Among the pieces the Handbell Choir will play are “A Pastoral Christmas,” “O, Sanctissima,” and the Advent hymn “Savior of the Nations Come.”
The service will conclude with a second lighting of the candles as the choir sings “Night of Silence,” during which the congregation joins in for “Silent Night.” Crean will play a postlude by David Wilcocks, “Finale on ‘Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.”
Now in its 34th year, the Wittenberg Series brings distinguished lecturers and performing artists of national and international prominence to the Wittenberg campus and Springfield community. To make special arrangements, request a Series poster, or become a friend of the Wittenberg Series, contact Lisa Watson at WatsonL4@wittenberg.edu. All Wittenberg Series events are free and open to the public.
Additional 2016-17 Wittenberg Series Events:
- Monday, Jan. 16, 2017: Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation, 11:15 a.m., Weaver Chapel featuring Dorothy Tillman, Civil Rights Activist and former Chicago Alderman.
- Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017: Concert with Goldstein, Peled, Fiterstein Trio, 7:30 p.m., Weaver Chapel.
- Wednesday, March 15, 2017: - IBM Endowed Lecture in the Sciences, 7:30 p.m., Bayley Auditorium featuring Valentina Salapura, IBM.
- Friday, March 31, 2017: William A. Kinnison Endowed Lecture, 7:30 p.m., Bayley Auditorium featuring Michael Blakey.
