The Washington Chorus and Music Director Julian Wachner will mark the holidays in style. He and his 200-voice choir, accompanied by brass, pipe organ and percussion, will celebrate their annual program A Candlelight Christmas at both the Kennedy Center and the Music Center at Strathmore. “There will be candlelight in all of our productions,” said Wachner, who has led the 51-year old chorus in song for the past three years. “The [choir] will process by candlelight down the aisles of the Kennedy Center.”
The performance emphasizes Christmas celebration so that, according to Wachner, “no one is confused about the kind of program it is — as opposed to a holiday program.”
| Onstage |
| A Candlelight Christmas |
| Where: The Kennedy Center Concert Hall |
| When: Saturday through Thursday; Special presentation on Wednesday at Strathmore |
| Info: kennedy-center.org |
Classic carols will be the order of the program, which is presented with one intermission. The chorus, forming a semicircle downstage of the pipe organ, sings the music so familiar to Christmas celebration, including “Joy to the World,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” ‘Silent Night,” “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and the joyous hallelujah chorus from the “Messiah.”
The Washington Chorus has performed at numerous venues throughout the D.C. area. Their musical services have been requested by the National Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, the chorus has recorded their music, been nationally broadcast and internationally televised. They are part of presidential inaugural programs and frequently entertain world leaders.
Having just released a new CD, “Christmas with The Washington Chorus,” the recording takes its place among prior releases that include two additional holiday recordings and the Grammy Award winning “Of Rage and Remembrance” by John Corigliano with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Leonard Slatkin.
International touring to such cities as Paris, Vienna and Rome, as well as various educational programs throughout the Washington area, are all part of the chorus’ outreach commitments.
When asked what he would say to a person coming to a hear the Washington Chorus for the first time, Wachner explains, “This is on a whole different level; the Technicolor version of your traditional holiday chorus and brass program.”
