Celebration of Christmas: Child of the Light [CD] - BYU Combined Choirs and Orchestra

Each Christmas season at Brigham Young University over 500 vocalists and instrumentalists celebrate the season in song. Handpicked from the largest private student body in the country, these students comprise four nationally and internationally acclaimed choirs and the highly praised BYU Philharmonic.

These musical organizations are known for their unity, due in part to the superb technical proficiency achieved under the hands of choral conductors Rosalind Hall, Dr. Andrew Crane, Jean Applonie, and Dr. Sonja Poulter, and Philharmonic conductor Kory Katseanes. But there is more. Students and conductors share a strong belief in the spiritual character of music. As one critic observed, “The spiritual element is present in each piece the choirs sing.” This results in performances that are alive, fresh, and heartfelt—performances that overcome boundaries and draw people together.

The music presented here was recorded during the live performances of the December 2021 and 2022 Celebration of Christmas concerts.

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TRACKS 

BYU COMBINED CHOIRS AND BYU PHILHARMONIC
1. I Saw Three Ships
English carol; Arr. Mack Wilberg

BYU CONCERT CHOIR
2. The Holly and the Ivy
English carol; Arr. John Rutter

BYU MEN’S CHORUS
3. I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light
Kathleen Thomerson, Arr. Tom Trenney

BYU WOMEN’S CHORUS
4. The Work of Christmas
Dan Forrest, Howard Thurman

BYU SINGERS
5. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin; Arr. Molly Ijames

BYU PHILHARMONIC
6. Sleigh Ride
Leroy Anderson

BYU COMBINED CHOIRS
7. Ring Those Christmas Bells
Gus Levene, Marvin Fisher; Arr. Ryan Murphy

BYU SINGERS
8. Silent Night
Franz Gruber, Joseph Mohr; Arr. Shawn Kirchner

BYU MEN’S CHORUS
9. Lux Aurumque
Eric Whitacre, Edward Esch, Charles Anthony Silvestri

BYU CONCERT CHOIR
10. Patapan (Guillô, pran ton tamborin)
Bernard de La Monnoye, Percy Dearmer; Arr. Brent Wells

BYU WOMEN’S CHORUS
11. In the Bleak Midwinter
Gustav Holst, Christina Rossetti, John Andrew Storey,
Abbie Betinis; Arr. Abbie Betinis

BYU PHILHARMONIC
The Nutcracker Suite
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
12. Trepak
13. Waltz of the Flowers

BYU COMBINED CHOIRS
14. Lully, Lulla, Lullay
Philip WJ Stopford; Traditional carol

BYU COMBINED CHOIRS AND BYU PHILHARMONIC
15. Carol of the Bells
Mykola Leontovych, Peter Wilhousky; Arr. Barlow Bradford

MUSIC VIDEOS featuring songs on this album

ALBUM CREDITS

Producers: Andrew Crane, Sonja Poulter, Brent Wells, Kory Katseanes, Ben Fales

Recording engineer: Jeff Carter

Editing and mixing engineers: Jeff Carter, Aaron Merrill (track 5)

Mastering engineer: Troy Sales

Project coordinator: Cardin McKinney

Copyeditor: Alayna Een

Graphic design: Adam Johnson, Doug Thomas

Conductors by track: Sonja Poulter: 1, 4, 11, 14; Brent Wells: 2, 3, 10; Samantha Gordon: 5; Kory Katseanes: 6, 12, 13; Andrew Crane: 7, 8, 15; Eric Whitacre: 9

BYU Records is part of BYU Music Group, an enterprise center in the School of Music in the College of Fine Arts and Communications at Brigham Young University.