News Detail
Traditional Crane Candlelight Concerts Return for Holidays
11.17.11
SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music will mark a very special 125th concert season with its 2011 Candlelight Concerts, to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season.
The 300 musicians of the Crane Chorus and the Crane Symphony Orchestra will fill the stage at the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall for the annual performance.
This year, they will also welcome the Potsdam Brass Quintet, which will perform alongside the students in this memorable musical tribute to the holidays. The concert will include traditional Christmas and seasonal hymns along with popular favorites.
The 2011 Crane Candlelight Concert will consist of two performances on Sunday, Dec. 4, one at 3 p.m. and the other at 7:30 p.m. This concert is free and the public is welcome to attend.
The Crane Chorus, directed by Dr. Jeffrey Francom, consists of 200 voice students from SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music; the Crane Symphony Orchestra, directed by Dr. Ching-Chun Lai, is an auditioned group of nearly 100 instrumentalists. With 300 musicians set to be onstage, the annual Crane Candlelight Concert promises to be the largest and most-attended concert of the 2011-12 concert season.
The Potsdam Brass Quintet, established in 1968, is the brass quintet-in-residence at The Crane School of Music. The quintet has performed in concert throughout much of the United States and Canada, including performances at Lincoln Center in New York City, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The ensemble has recorded five albums on the RCA Custom, Kendor and Mark Recording labels.
Come enjoy holiday classics, such as “Angels We Have Heard on High” and John Rutter’s “Gloria,” as well as multicultural works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Moses Hogan, Eric Whitacre, Elliot Levine and Mack Wilberg.
In collaboration with the ensembles, there are several student and faculty soloists on the program. Dr. Lonel Woods, tenor, will sing a rousing arrangement of the spiritual “Glory, Glory, Glory to the Newborn King.”
While both concerts are free, donations to support musical programming at Crane will be accepted at the door. SUNY Potsdam and The Crane School of Music invite you and your family to join us.
The 2011 Crane Candlelight Concert will be produced for television by WPBS-TV and can be viewed on public television stations nationwide in December 2012.
You can also view previous Crane Candlelight Concert performances from the comfort of your home this holiday season. The shows will air locally as follows on WPBS-TV:
• “December Wonderland” (taped in 2010) will air on Dec. 6 at 8 p.m., on Dec. 17 at 3 p.m., and on Dec. 18 at 1:30 p.m.
• “Home & Hearth” (2009) will air on Dec. 12 at 10 p.m.
• “Family Traditions” (2008) will air on Dec. 5 at 10 p.m.
After the air date, these broadcasts can also be viewed online at www.wpbstv.org.
For more information about the long tradition of innovation at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.
Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York’s only All-Steinway institution, and is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2011.