Musicians from Holy Names Music Center (HNMC)—Archie Chen, Rhona Gouldson-Chen, Yevgeniy Grechko, Sister Kay Heberling and Zeru Wang—joined E.J. Iannelli in the Spokane Public Radio performance space to preview this weekend's holiday concert at the community music school.
"Visions of Christmas: A Celebration of Light and Music" will showcase the talent of the organization's faculty and its wider community.
The program includes Maurice Ravel’s "Mouvement de Menuet" from his Sonatine, No. 2, the Andante from Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet, a four-handed piano version of Leroy Anderson’s "Sleigh Ride," an arrangement of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s "Vocalise" for piano and cello and a rendition of "Little Drummer Boy."
The centerpiece of the evening is John Rutter’s "Candlelight Carol," which will have an atmospheric candlelit component.
All of the guests took turns performing pieces. Wang opened with a piano version of the "Waltz of the Flowers" from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. Grechko and Archie Chen performed Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise," followed by Sister Heberling performing the program's Ravel piece.
Between performances, the Chens each spoke about the "Visions of Christmas" concert program and the participants, and Heberling summarized some of the history of holiday performances at HNMC — including the "Ave Concert," which she helped organize for many years.
The Chens, who recently became co-executive directors of HNMC, closed with the piano duet version of "Sleigh Ride."
“Visions of Christmas: A Celebration of Light and Music” takes place at Holy Names Music Center’s McNally Recital Hall on Sunday, December 17. Alongside the standard tickets, a VIP package with priority seating and a pre-concert meet-and-greet is also available.
Tickets and more information are available at the Holy Names Music Center website or by calling (509) 326-9516.
