‘Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind: Music for Fall and Winter’ Dec. 9

Nicole Aldrich, PhD, will make her public debut as director of both the Washington University Concert Choir and the new Washington University Chamber Choir in a free performance at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, in Graham Chapel.

Aldrich

“During Parents’ Weekend, Nicole gave us a taste of the beautiful sound she is cultivating in her choirs,” says Dolores Pesce, PhD, chair of the Department of Music and the Avis Blewett Professor of Music in Arts & Sciences. “We look forward to her formal debut on Dec. 9.”

Titled “Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind: Music for Fall and Winter,” the program will feature Uns ist ein Kind geboren (Unto Us a Child is Born), a Christmas cantata scored for three soloists. Long attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach, the piece is today credited to Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722), who preceded Bach as cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.

Also on the program will be “O magnum mysterium,” a double-choir motet by Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1555-1612); Four Part-Songs by Gustav Holst (1874-1934); and three of the five songs from the late series Fünf Gesänge, Op.104, by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).

Rounding out the program will be choral works by John Rutter (b. 1945), Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943), Williametta Spencer (b. 1932) and Dale Warland (b. 1932).

Pianist for the performance is Sandra Geary, teacher of applied music.

Graham Chapel is located immediately north of the Mallinckrodt Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For more information, call (314) 935-5566 or email daniels@wustl.edu.

Drawing musicians from across the campus community, both the Concert Choir and the new Chamber Choir perform masterworks from five centuries and across many cultures, encompassing sacred and secular works, folk and art music, and accompanied and a cappella repertoire.

Aldrich, who joined the Department of Music last summer as director of choral activities, earned a doctorate in musical arts from the University of Maryland. She previously served as associate director of choral activities at the University of Delaware from 2000-07, where she also conducted the school’s premier women’s ensemble, University Singers.

In addition to her doctorate, Aldrich earned a master’s degree in conducting from Northwestern University and studied both piano and voice at Virginia Wesleyan College, graduating summa cum laude. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the American Choral Directors Association.