- PBS Presentation Celebrates 96 Years of Holiday Music and Faith - The sounds of the season return as the renowned choirs of St. Olaf College star in CHRISTMAS AT ST. OLAF: WHERE PEACE AND LOVE AND HOPE ABIDE, a new holiday special airing Wednesday, December 19, 2007, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET, with repeat broadcasts on December 25, 12:00-1:00 and 5:00-6:00 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS.
The St. Olaf Christmas Festival is one of America's oldest musical Christmas celebrations and has become an honored holiday tradition. Listed by The New York Times International Datebook as one of five significant global holiday events not to miss, the festival has been featured in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and TV Guide.
Five choral ensembles and the St. Olaf Orchestra -- more than 500 student musicians strong -- perform a rich repertoire of Christmas compositions, as well as familiar carols and hymns from around the world.
This year's festival blends excerpts from Handel's Messiah, Mendelssohn's St. Paul and Honegger's King David with new, specially commissioned works for chorus and orchestra. Anton Armstrong, conductor of the St. Olaf Choir, says this year's theme, WHERE PEACE AND HOPE AND LOVE ABIDE, aims to explore global citizenship and the spiritual dimension of the holiday season. "Since 1912, the St. Olaf Christmas Festival has been a gift to an increasingly global community," he explains. "In a country and world that seem to be engulfed in greater dimensions of social and political strife, the 2007 St. Olaf Christmas Festival seeks to proclaim the message of peace, love and hope to all who will hear these concerts live or through various media broadcasts."
"There is nothing, anywhere, like St. Olaf's Christmas celebration," says Phil Byrd, who has directed television programs with a number of America's great choruses and who is the producer/director of the last two St. Olaf Christmas specials. "Few choral ensembles -- professional or amateur -- perform at the level of St. Olaf's choirs," he says.
CHRISTMAS AT ST. OLAF marks the eighth time Twin Cities Public Television has collaborated with St. Olaf College to bring the Christmas Festival to PBS audiences. "PBS is delighted to present CHRISTMAS AT ST. OLAF, fast becoming one of our most anticipated holiday traditions," said John F. Wilson, PBS senior vice president and chief TV programming executive. "The caliber of the performances and arrangements through the years has been consistently world class."
This year, for the first time, the festival also will be simulcast live -- from St. Olaf's bucolic campus in high definition via satellite -- to some 160 movie theatres from coast to coast. B.J. Johnson, manager of St. Olaf Music Organizations, says, "Millions of people around the world have made the St. Olaf Christmas Festival part of their holiday tradition through PBS. The high-definition simulcast to movie theaters across the country carries this tradition into the 21st century."
More than 12,000 students, alumni and friends of the college attend the four sold-out performances presented on the St. Olaf College campus every December. "We are delighted that once again St. Olaf College can share the Christmas Festival with audiences all across America," says St. Olaf College President David R. Anderson. "One of the oldest and most distinguished musical celebrations of Christmas in America, the Christmas Festival reflects not only the excellence of the music program at St. Olaf, but also the college's deep and enduring commitment to its Lutheran identity."
Underwriters: Public Television Viewers and PBS.
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