The Samford University School of Performing Arts will welcome alumna and operatic star Susan Patterson as the featured soloist at the Festival of Christmas Music Saturday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m. Samford choirs, orchestra and bands, and theatre actors will fill the Wright Center Concert Hall stage for an entertaining and meaningful evening. Dr. Timothy Banks will conduct.
Patterson will sing, with the University Orchestra, Bach/Gounod's Ave Maria; and with orchestra and combined choirs, Cesar Franck's Panis Angelicus. The soprano and choirs will also Adolphe Adam's O Holy Night.
Patterson's career includes performances with the Metropolitan Opera, Placido Domino and Luciana Pavarotti. She has recently recorded a landmark release of all-Puccini arias.
The concert will include performances, separately and combined, by the Wind Ensemble, Bells of Buchanan, University Chorale, A Cappella Choir, Brass Ensemble and University Orchestra. Samford Theatre will present a scene from William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
The finale will engage the audience in singing traditional Christmas songs.
Admission is $10 adults, $8 senior adults, $6 students/children. For Tickets, call (205) 726-2853 or go to www.samfordartstickets.com.