Guest artists Sax in the City join the Fairfield University Glee Club with Festival Orchestra for its annual Christmas concert, "In Holiday Style," at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. Performances will take place on Friday, Dec. 2, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 3, at 2 p.m.

Under the direction of Carole Ann Maxwell, D.S.M., the concert aims to place the singers and their audiences in an upbeat holiday atmosphere, filled with unique and innovative musical surprises. Songs of the season will be presented in newly stylized arrangements, putting a new spin on some old favorites.

One of the program highlights is "A Christmas Cantata" by Nils Lindberg, a celebrated Swedish jazz composer/pianist whose music mixes the directness of folk with classical harmonies and jazz rhythms for a completely new sound. The piece blends music based on Biblical passages with traditional carols, such as "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Deck the Halls."

In addition, the glee club and its smaller ensembles will perform "Joy to the World," "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square," "Go Tell It on the Mountain" and other holiday selections.

Sax in the City is a popular New York City-based saxophone quartet known for its versatility and memorable performances at such varied venues as Hannah's Lava Lounge, The Pierre Four Seasons Hotel and Belmont Park Racetrack. Members Donald Rhymard, Harry Hassell, Patrick Lombardo and Michel Gabler will play a Mark Hayes arrangement of "O Holy Night."

The Glee Club is a mixed chorus of more than 90 undergraduate and graduate students continuing a 59-year legacy of musical excellence on campus and abroad. The choir has performed at Carnegie Hall, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Westminster Cathedral in London, the Aula Paolo VI at the Vatican and the U.S. Military academies at West Point and Annapolis. This year the Glee Club will be performing in Europe with stops in Florence and Rome, Italy.

Dr. Maxwell, director of Choral and Liturgical Music for Fairfield University since 1980, is also the artistic director and conductor of The Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut and chorus master of The Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra. She has conducted choruses for the Prague Radio Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Orchestra, the Connecticut Grand Opera and Orchestra and the Yale Opera Ensemble.

She has shared the stage with jazz icon Dave Brubeck and the Dave Brubeck Quartet, opera legends Sherrill Milnes, Marilyn Horne and Renee Fleming, and composers Stephen Schwarz, Stephen Sondheim and Charles Strouse. For the second year, she has been named one of the distinguished conductors at the celebrated "Messiah Sing-In" at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.

Tickets are $10, $6 for students. For tickets, call the Quick Center box office at (203) 254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396. For more information, visit www.quickcenter.com.

Posted On: 11-02-2005 10:11 AM

Volume: 38 Number: 88