On Friday, December 1st and Saturday, December 2nd, the Concordia University Wisconsin music department hosted the 36th annual Christmas at Concordia! The campus chapel was nearly filled to the brim as staff, students, and members of the community eagerly awaited the start of the performance. The event featured a dinner beforehand for select members of the audience, along with a live stream for those who could not attend in person. The annual performance is a cherished event for the music program and serves as an opportunity for the community to unite for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas at Concordia features all of CUW’s instrumental, vocal, and handbell ensembles including: the Alleluia Ringers, Chapel Choir, Chapel Ringers, Civic Chorale, Jazz Ensemble, Kammerchor, Selah, String Ensemble, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and University Band.
The music program has long been an integral part of CUW’s mission to teach and prepare students for careers and vocations that serve the Lutheran Church. The music curriculum offers a broad range of performance opportunities for students, including band, choir, handbells, and orchestra. Each year, the premier ensemble within each genre takes a tour throughout the regional or continental United States. The music program involves more than twenty percent of all residential students and is only growing as the University continues to increase in scope and size.
As a first-time attendee at Christmas at Concordia, I was extremely impressed to say the least. The music department did an incredible job with the production of the show with all the moving parts and the music display. I will definitely be back next year!
—William Sommers is writer for The Beacon, the official student newspaper of Concordia University Wisconsin