CHICAGO, IL - Don your most festive frocks and holiday glitter for "Don We Now...", Windy City Performing Arts' annual holiday concert featuring the voices of Windy City Gay Chorus and Aria, under the direction of Paul Caldwell, Artistic Director.
Performances are Saturday December 7 at 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. at Ebenezer Lutheran Church — 1650 W. Foster Ave., in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood.
As WCPA's annual holiday concert celebrates the joys and anticipations of the season through the gift of music, it's also a concert to benefit a worthy cause: Vital Bridges — one of Chicago's most indispensable agencies that offers hope and assistance to Chicagoans impacted by HIV/AIDS. Vital Bridges' mission is to help people in need throughout metropolitan Chicago improve their health and build self-sufficiency by providing food, nutrition counseling, housing, care coordination and prevention services. This year, "Don We Now..." offers an opportunity for our community to come together to share in the good tidings of music while supporting those who need it most.
"Don We Now..." is full of a diverse and classy mix of familiar and unique musical selections sure to warm your heart for the winter and get you in the mood to make merry, with favorites like "Deck the Halls", a classic arrangement by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw from the golden age of radio choruses, and "Jingle Bells", a remake of a classic holiday favorite arranged by Bob Chilcott.
Audiences will be treated to one of the 20th century's most beautiful holiday works: Morten Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium", beautifully presented by the combined voices of Windy City Gay Chorus and Aria. And in testament to musical compatibility, Craig Hella Johnson's arrangement of "Lo How a Rose/The Rose" combines two songs in a way that's full of holiday sentiment.
Lest you long for the 'lighter side' of holiday songs, Windy City Gay Chorus and Aria will serve up the fruitcake with selections like Eric Lane Barnes' "A PC Christmas", a comedic examination of various holiday traditions ( and what's a holiday without traditions! ). And for all you snow birds out there, pack your bags to spend "Hanukkah in Santa Monica", a hilarious musical romp that lets you race away from winter's chill — complete with heart-warming choreography!
"Don We Now..." will also feature "Hope for Resolution", one of the most frequently performed pieces in holiday repertoires, composed by Windy City Performing Arts' Artistic Director, Paul Caldwell. And to truly get you in the spirit, you'll be moved to stand up and shout to Mervyn Warren's arrangement of "Joy to the World", a rollicking gospel setting made famous by the late, great Whitney Houston in The Preacher's Wife. These and other holiday surprises await you at "Don We Now...".
"Don We Now..." featuring Windy City Gay Chorus and Aria will be performed Saturday,
December 7 at 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster Ave. in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood. General admission tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at windycitysings.org . Discounted tickets for Seniors ( $15 ) or Students and Children ( $10 ) are available only at the box office.
Celebrating 35 Lyrical Years, Windy City Performing Arts ( WCPA ) is Chicago's Premier LGBT Choral Arts Organization encompassing Windy City Gay Chorus and Aria. Windy City Performing Arts celebrates diversity, honors creativity, and cultivates pride through the transformative power of music and the arts.