EP
Esther Petrashishen
  • music
  • Woodburn, OR

Esther Petrashishen of Woodburn performs in George Fox University's annual Christmas concert

2013 Nov 27

Esther Petrashishen of Woodburn, a sophomore majoring in music at George Fox University, is among the more than 100 performers taking part in the university's annual Christmas concert, "Tell the Good News!," scheduled Friday through Sunday, Dec. 13-15. All performances will be held in Bauman Auditorium on the university's Newberg, Ore., campus.

The concert will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 13-14, and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15. Preconcert music will be offered 45 minutes before each performance. The cost is $12 for adults, $8 for seniors and George Fox alumni, and $6 for students and children. Tickets can be purchased by visiting music.georgefox.edu.

Featured groups include the university's Concert Choir, Men's and Women's Chorale, Chamber Choir and Symphonic Band and Strings. Loren Wenz, associate professor of music, will direct the choral portion of the concert, and Pat Vandehey, assistant professor of music, will direct the instrumental portion. Professors Richard Elliott and Gary Frame will also assist with conducting.

The student musicians will tell the Christmas story through well-loved carols and traditional compositions. Complementary staging, complete with authentic environmental elements, Scripture reading and narration, will be featured. The concert will also be interspersed with opportunities for the audience to join in singing familiar Christmas carols.

Among the selections presented will be "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus," "Silent Night," "O Come All Ye Faithful," "I Saw Three Ships," "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly" (Polish carol), "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," "The Hands That First Held Mary's Child" and "Go Tell It on the Mountain."

The event is the largest production of the year put on by the university's music department, which offers a music major and a music education major.

For more information on concert specifics, contact Debbie Hawblitzel at 503-554-2620.

George Fox University is ranked by Forbes among the top Christian universities in the country and is a Christian college classified by U.S. News & World Report as a first-tier regional university. More than 3,700 students attend classes on the university's campus in Newberg, Ore., and at teaching centers in Portland, Salem and Redmond, Ore. George Fox offers bachelor's degrees in more than 40 majors, degree-completion programs for working adults, five seminary degrees, and 11 master's and doctoral degrees.