All members of the Montgomery County community are invited to attend Wabash College’s 37th annual Christmas Festival of Music and Readings at 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 7 in the College Chapel. The festive program is an opportunity for college and community to come together in a traditional service of readings from the Old and New Testaments, along with a wide range of musical offerings.
The program, based on a traditional English service and initiated at Wabash by the late Eric Dean, features Advent and Christmas scriptures read by members of the Wabash faculty, staff, and student body, as well as Christmas music sung by the congregation and performed by members of Wabash and community musical ensembles.
This year’s Christmas Festival will feature a variety of music, including selections performed by the Wabash College Glee Club under the direction of Richard Bowen; a solo by Wabash instructor of voice Kevin Trager; the Wabash College Brass Ensemble, directed by Peter Hulen; instrumental performances by a Wabash string ensemble (Andrew McKone, Daniel Gillespie, Matthew Bentley, Diane Norton); Eponymous Three (Amanda Ingram, Matthew Bentley, Diane Norton); and Cheryl Everett on organ. The audience will have the opportunity to join the performing ensembles in several familiar carols.
Readers include J. D. Phillips, Kenneth Ngwa, Raymond Williams, Sherry Ross, Beth Swift, Philip Eubanks, and Jacob Juncker.
The Christmas Festival of Music and Readings is jointly sponsored by the Music and Religion Departments, and is open to the public without charge. There will be a reception following the Festival.