A listing of Holiday performances by area musical organizations
By Peter Alexander
‘Tis the season, and the halls are alive with the sounds of Christmas.
In the coming weeks, area musical organizations will offer performances ranging from The Nutcracker to Messiah, from Gregorian chant to Judy Collins, and from the Bach Christmas Oratorio to A Charlie Brown Christmas.
In fact, the first Nutcrackers have already been completed, with more performances coming this weekend in Longmont (Dec. 3–4 with the Longmont Symphony and Boulder Ballet; see below for details, including links for tickets for all performances mentioned in this article). The Longmont performances include a “gentle Nutcracker,” an abridged, “sensory friendly” performance that welcomes neurodiverse audience members, their families and caregivers.
Other dance companies in the area offer The Nutcracker well into December and can easily be found on the Web; here I am listing the many musical groups in our area. This weekend the very popular CU Holiday Festival, with CU orchestras, bands and choirs starts the festivities on Friday at 7:30 in Macky Auditorium, with additional performances Saturday and Sunday (Dec 2–4). Check the Web page soon; some performances are close to selling out.
If you get enough “Rudolph” and “White Christmas” in the mall, several organizations offer alternative Holiday fare. Seicento Baroque Ensemble will present ”Noel: Christmas in the late Renaissance and early Baroque” over the coming weekend, Friday through Sunday (Dec. 2–4), in Denver, Boulder and Longmont. Ars Nova Singers will present their usual eclectic fare in the same cities over the following week (Dec. 9 & 11, 15 & 16). Their program, titled “Solstice,” includes Gregorian chant, Renaissance music based on chant, contemporary works for the time of solstice, and the premiere of director Tom Morgan’s own arrangement of the French carol “Un Flambeau, Jeanette, Isabella” (“Bring a torch, Jeanette, Isabella”).
The most wide-ranging program is surely that of The Boulder Bach Festival’s CORE (COmpass REsonance) Chamber Choir. Their “Christmas Across the Ages” program (Dec. 16 in the Broomfield Auditorium) offers exactly that, with selections from J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Christmas, music by early American composer William Billings and songs by John Denver and Judy Collins.
With their familiar penchant for embracing musical cultures around the world, the Boulder Chorale and conductor Vicki Burrichter will present “A Celtic Winter,” a program of traditional music performed with a Celtic ensemble led by Jessie Burns. The Boulder Chamber Orchestra offers “The Gift of Music” Dec. 17 (Boulder’s Seventh Day Adventist Church), including Handel arias sung by soprano Szilvia Schranz. Instrumental pieces will include Bach’s “Double” Violin Concerto in D minor, and Holiday selections.
If you wanted to hear Handel’s Messiah in Longmont, you will have to bring a score and sing along. The Longmont Symphony’s performance Dec. 17 is already sold out, but the Sing-Along Messiah Dec. 18 still has tickets available. The Boulder Philharmonic Brass will perform traditional songs of Christmas and Hanukkah at Mountain View Methodist Dec. 18. And with that, the musicians that I know about will pack up their cases and likely enjoy some eggnog. There are surely other events out there that have not come to my attention. With a little enterprise you can find those performances online, too.
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CU Holiday Festival
CU College of Music orchestras, bands and choirs
- Traditional music of the Holiday season
7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2
1 and 4 p.m. Saturday, Dev. 3
4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4
Macky Auditorium
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“Noel: Christmas in the late Renaissance an early Baroque”
Seicento Baroque Ensemble, Evanne Browne, artistic director
With Wesley Leffingwell, organ; and Joseph Howe, Baroque cello
- Program includes music by Palestrina, Victoria, Sweelinck and Rossi.
7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, St. Paul, Lutheran Church, Denver
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3. First United Methodist Church, Boulder
3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, First Congregational Church, Longmont
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The Nutcracker ballet
Longmont Symphony, Elliot Moore, conductor
With the Boulder Ballet
- Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3 (“Gentle” Nutcracker: abridged, “sensory friendly” performance))
4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3
2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4
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“Solstice”
Ars Nova Singers, Tom Morgan, director
With John Gunther, saxophone
Program includes:
- Gregorian Chant, Vox clara Ecce Intonat
- Gabriel Jackson: Vox clara Ecce Intonat
- Tomás Luis de Victoria: Ave regina caelorum
- Bob Chilcott: The Shepherd’s Carol
- Tom Morgan, arr: Un Flambeau, Jeanette, Isabella (premiere)
7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, First Congregational Church, Longmont
4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Denver
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15, Mountain View Methodist Church, Boulder
7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, First United Methodist Church, Boulder
LIVESTREAM: 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11
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“Christmas Across the Ages”
Boulder Bach Festival CORE Chamber Choir
With Claire McCahan, mezzo-soprano, and Jeremy Reger, keyboards
Program includes:
- John Tavener: “A Christmas Round”
- William Billings: “A Virgin Unspotted”
- —“Bethlehem” (While shepherd watched their flocks by night)
- Jamaican folk tune: “An’ She Rock de Baby”
- John Denver: “Aspenglow”
- Judy Collins: “The Blizzard”
- J.S. Bach: Selections from Christmas Oratorio
- Vince Guaraldi: “Christmastime is Here” (From A Charlie Brown Christmas)
7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16
Broomfield Auditorium
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Longmont Symphony
Elliot Moore, conductor, with chorus and soloists
- G.F. Handel: Messiah
4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17
Westview Presbyterian Church, Longmont
SOLD OUT
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“The Gift of Music”
Boulder Chamber Orchestra, Bahman Saless, conductor
With Szilvia Schranz, soprano, and Kevin Sylves, double bass
- G.F. Handel: Selected arias
- Henry Eccles: Sonata in G minor for double bass and strings
- J.S. Bach: Concerto in D minor for two violins and orchestra
- Holiday selections
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17
Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Boulder
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“Singalong Messiah”
Longmont Symphony, Elliot Moore, conductor
With vocal soloists
- G.F. Handel: Selections from Messiah
4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18
Westview Presbyterian Church, Longmont
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“Holiday Brass”
Boulder Philharmonic brass and percussion
Brian Buerkle, conductor
- Program includes traditional songs of Christmas and Hanukkah.
4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18
Mountain View Methodist Church, Boulder
Sharps & Flatirons 
Thank you for this, Peter!
It’s a busy time with lots of offerings, and everyone is struggling to keep abreast of covid absenses.
Would you like a couple of comp tickets for the Longmont Show?
You are THE best!! Evanne ________________________________
Thank you! I do what I can.