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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

CONCORA Media Contact: Christine Laird
EMAIL:
contact@concora.org
PHONE 860-293-0567
CONCORA, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford, CT 06103

www.concora.org

 

Return of a Beloved Holiday Tradition: CONCORA presents 26th edition of “Christmas with CONCORA!” on Saturday, December 10
 
“Christmas with CONCORA!” features favorite holiday carols and an audience sing-along in a warm and welcoming family-friendly setting.

HARTFORD AND NEW BRITAIN, CONN. (November 29, 2016) — CONCORA (Connecticut Choral Artists), the region’s oldest all-professional choral ensemble, announces the 26th edition of “Christmas with CONCORA!” This concert of favorite holiday carols will be performed on Saturday, December 10, at 7:30 PM, at First Lutheran Church, 77 Franklin Square, New Britain, CT.
 
The concert’s music is drawn from Carols for Choirs, a collection of traditional arrangements first published by Oxford University Press in 1961. Over the decades, these sparkling Christmas carol settings by Sir David Willcocks, John Rutter, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and others have become essential to the choral holiday repertoire.
 
“For me, the ‘very English’ carol arrangements by Willcocks and Rutter are as indispensable to the holiday season as Dickens' A Christmas Carol,” said CONCORA’s Artistic Director Chris Shepard. “They offer a look back on a simpler time, and as such are the perfect antidote to the more stressful commercialism of today’s Christmas season.”
 
“We are delighted to return to First Lutheran Church in New Britain for another edition of ‘Christmas with CONCORA’,” said Christine Laird, Director of Operations and a member of the ensemble. “It’s a warm and welcoming space, the perfect setting for this program of memorable holiday favorites.”
 
The concert on December 10 is the 26th edition of the “Christmas with CONCORA” series, which began in 1989. A hallmark of this traditional concert is a sing-along, where the entire audience is invited to join with CONCORA in singing several favorite carols. Music is provided.
 
“When the entire audience joins CONCORA’s singers, the hall fills with glorious music, and every person smiles,” Laird said. “It’s the perfect way to welcome the holiday.”
 
Chris Shepard agreed, saying, “This concert is especially designed to provide a moment of respite and peace amid a season known more for its hustle and bustle. Although the holiday season should rightly be a time of peace, joy and goodwill, it can too often be a time of obligation, stress and frenetic activity.  This concert will provide our audience with a time of reflection, a break from an otherwise whirlwind season.”
 
Tickets are on sale now at
http://www.concora.org/christmas-with-concora.html for Christmas with CONCORA! on December 10. Early bird pricing ends December 3.
 
EVENT DETAILS:

Christmas with CONCORA! Favorite Christmas Carols

Family-friendly choral concert with professional choir CONCORA

Saturday, December 10, 2016, 7:30 PM


First Lutheran Church, 77 Franklin Square, New Britain, CT

Snow Date: Monday, December 12, 7:00 PM

Tickets: $55 preferred seating; $35 general admission; $30 senior; $10 student. Order before December 3 to take advantage of early-bird pricing on most tickets. Discounted group rates are available for general admission and senior tickets for groups of 8 or more. 2-for-1 general admission tickets are available with the Let*s Go! Arts card; contact the CONCORA office for information.

Info and Ticket Reservations: http://www.concora.org/christmas-with-concora.html
 
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For more information, or to schedule an interview with CONCORA Artistic Director Chris Shepard, please contact Christine Laird, Director of Operations, at contact@concora.org or 860-293-0567.
 
Photos of CONCORA and of CONCORA's Artistic Director Chris Shepard are attached below.
 
About CONCORA (Connecticut Choral Artists) – CONCORA (Connecticut Choral Artists) holds a unique place as the region’s first professional choir. Now in its 43rd season, the ensemble enjoys an extraordinary reputation for artistic excellence throughout New England. Under the direction of Chris Shepard, now in his second season as Artistic Director, the ensemble’s versatility is displayed in its wide range of repertoire and in the crafting of select ensembles from among the choir’s roster of singers to produce an extraordinary range of choral color and dynamic range for each program and performance space. CONCORA’s mission statement – “to perpetuate and perform with excellence choral music of the highest quality for the broadest possible audience” – represents a commitment to the Connecticut community and to artistic excellence, masterful performances, and educational enrichment. CONCORA’s educational outreach program includes several highly successful projects. CONCORA extends special invitations to other choruses, especially children’s, high school and college ensembles, as a regular part of its concert programming, particularly the “Extraordinary Concerts,” where the ensemble collaborates with select high school choirs. CONCORA’s Summer Festival offers adult singers from the community and select high school and college singers an opportunity to join with CONCORA in rehearsing and performing great choral works. For children, the CONCORA-to-Go quartet presents an interactive, multicultural program, “Around the World in Music,” performed in area elementary schools and public libraries. More information about CONCORA is available at www.concora.org.
 
About Chris Shepard – Chris Shepard has served as CONCORA’s Artistic Director since 2015, succeeding founder Richard Coffey in that role. He also serves as Music Director of the Worcester Chorus and the Masterwork Chorus of Morristown, New Jersey. With these choirs, Chris has performed a wide range of repertoire, collaborating with a number of major orchestras in venues that include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Radio City Music Hall in New York, as well as the Royal Festival Hall in London and the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. A conductor with a particular affinity for the choral music of J.S. Bach, Chris founded the Sydneian Bach Choir in Sydney, Australia, an ensemble that has performed all of Bach’s choral cantatas as well as all of his major choral works. He has taught at the Taft School, Sydney Grammar School and Holy Cross College. A pianist and keyboard continuist, Chris holds degrees from the Hartt School and the Yale School of Music, and the University of Sydney. His PhD dissertation won the American Choral Directors Association’s 2012 Julius Herford Prize for outstanding doctoral thesis in choral music. A fuller bio of Chris Shepard is available at
http://www.concora.org/artistic-leadership.html.
CONCORA - Connecticut Choral Artists
CONCORA Artistic Director Chris Shepard


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