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Nov. 20, 2007

Contact: Jessica Moore, jkmoore@emory.edu, 404-727-1687

15th Celtic Christmas Highlights Winter Concert Calendar

Emory’s winter concerts are well-loved traditions in the hearts and minds of the community that signal the beginning of the holiday season. The musical festivities begin with Emory’s oldest Christmas tradition, the “Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.” Now celebrating its fifteenth anniversary, the “ Atlanta Celtic Christmas Concert,” hosted and directed by James Flannery, rings in the yuletide season, now with an additional matinee performance. The Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA) closes out the winter holidays with two special Family Series concerts, “Father Christmas’ Favorite Music” and the annual “Chinese New Year Celebration.” Tickets for all concerts can be purchased from the Arts at Emory Box Office by calling 404-727-5050 or by going online to www.arts.emory.edu.

Now in his 25 th year at Emory, scholar and artist James Flannery proudly presents the 15 th consecutive “ Atlanta Celtic Christmas Concert.” This year three Grammy Award-winners, Irish sean-nós singer Moya Brennan, virtuoso Celtic banjoist Alison Brown and “Riverdance” composer Bill Whelan, are among the performers who will intrigue audiences with the mystical beauty and heartfelt warmth of Celtic and Appalachian music, dance, poetry, song and story. Moya Brennan, known as the “voice of Clannad,” has been featured on film soundtracks, television serials, recordings and the concert stages of the world. Brennan will be joined by harpist Cormac De Barra, guitarist Fionan De Barra and fiddler Sinead Madden. Alison Brown, one of the most respected five-stringed banjo players in the world noted for her jazz and bluegrass inflected Celtic compositions, will be joined by her husband, bassist Garry West, and fiddler and mandolin player, Joe Craven. Bill Whelan's presentation will be highlighted by the singing of a seventh century Irish poem about St. Patrick and Celtic spirituality entitled “Quis Est Deus?/Who is God?”.

Of this performance Dr. Flannery said: “ On a popular level, the concert draws upon the huge contemporary appeal of Celtic music and dance, as exemplified by the phenomenon of ‘Riverdance.’  But beyond that, the concert also reflects the mystical beauty of Celtic spirituality – a tradition dating back to medieval times in which, as Yeats said, ‘the presence of God is experienced as ‘concrete, flowing and phenomenal.’  Essentially, what that means is that we experience God as much in a rousing jig or reel as in a haunting prayer-poem that compares the wonder of a sunrise at the time of the Winter Solstice with the birth of the Christ Child, the Light of the World.” Performances are Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets are $25; $20 faculty, staff and discount category members; and $10 for all students and children.

The “Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols,” established in 1935, is a peaceful candlelit evening service of choral music and scripture, with readings by special community guests. Services are Friday, Dec. 7, 2007 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for the public; $12 for faculty/staff and discount category members; and $5 for Emory students. The festival features the Emory University Chorus and Concert Choir, directed by Eric Nelson, and University Organist, Timothy Albrecht.

The ECMSA presents two holiday oriented family concerts for all ages: “Father Christmas’ Favorite Music” on Sunday,Dec. 9, 2007 at 4 p.m., and the annual “Chinese New Year’s Concert” on Sunday, Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. In December, England’s Santa Claus will make a personal appearance to hand out holiday treats and listen to some of his favorite chamber music played by the Vega String Quartet. In February, curious young audiences will be delighted to watch Vega return and play their usual string instruments as well as the traditional Chinese erhu and pipa. Tickets for family concerts are $4; performances are in the Reception Hall of the Michael C. Carlos Museum.

On Emory's Oxford campus, the Oxford Chorale directed by Maria Archetto will celebrate the season with its free annual holiday concert in the Chapel on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007 and Friday, Dec. 7, 2007 at 8 p.m. For more information about arts events on the Oxford campus, call 770-784-8389 or visit www.emory.edu/OXFORD/arts.

Editors Note: High Resolution Photographs Available Upon Request

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