Christmas Festival a Sold-Out Tradition
The sixth annual Westmont Christmas Festival, “Let the Hearts of Those Who Seek the Lord Rejoice,” is sold out for general admission tickets. If you are a member of the Wallace Emerson Society, please call Joan Kim at (805) 565-6058. If you received an invitation to the reception, please call (805) 565-7234. The general admission tickets sold out 29 hours after tickets to the three shows became available Nov. 10. Tickets to the festival, Dec. 3-4 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 5 at 3 p.m., all at First Presbyterian Church, have always been free, but reservations are required. First Presbyterian, 21 E. Constance at State Street, has a maximum seating capacity of 700.
“We’ve been surprised and delighted by the quick and overwhelming response,” says Michael Shasberger, Adams professor of music and worship. Because of the demand, the college has been accepting names for a waiting list and opened the dress rehearsal of the program to the public Thursday, Dec. 2, at 7:30 p.m. The doors will open for the dress rehearsal at 7:15, and no reservations will be taken. Shasberger says the rehearsal will be in full, formal attire and will run as seamlessly as possible.
Musical highlights of the festival include Mack Wilberg’s new arrangement for full orchestra and choir of “O Holy Night,” selections for harp and the Women’s Chorale from Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols,” Westmont Orchestra playing George Bizet’s “Farandole” (March of the Three Kings), Westmont College Choir singing Morten Lauridsen’s “O Magnum Mysterium” (O Wondrous Mystery), Carols of the season from all the choirs and orchestra including several for the audience to join in on.
Shasberger says this year’s theme from 1 Chronicles promises great rewards for those who earnestly engage in seeking God. “Finding the infant Jesus among us in human form at Christmas time is finding God at the most approachable point — that moment when our salvation is presented in the form of a vulnerable human child,” Shasberger says. “The music and texts of this year’s festival explore those images of seeking and finding God, from the three kings to the shepherds, to our present-day searching.”
Santa Barbara Channels, the local public access television station for Cox Cable subscribers between Gaviota and Carpinteria, will videotape the performance for rebroadcast at a later time.
The Westmont Orchestra also performs Feb. 25, 2011, at 8 p.m. in Hahn Hall at the Music Academy of the West, and Feb. 27, 2011, at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church. The program will feature Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt Suite” and music by Verdi, Saint-Saens and Ravel.