Design Alaska Family Holiday Celebration Concert - Music to usher in the Season
Sunday, December 2, 2007, 4pm – Davis Concert Hall
Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra
Choir of the North
University Chorus
Northland Children’s Choir
Eduard Zilberkant, conductor
17th annual Concerto Competition winners

The Choir of the North is composed of approximately forty to fifty voices selected by audition from the University of Alaska Fairbanks student body. Organized in 1957, it is one of the longest standing choral organizations in the state of Alaska. The primary mission of the Choir of the North is to provide a musical training ground for those students preparing to become professional musicians and music educators, many of whom will stay and teach in the Alaska public school systems. For students with other majors, the Choir provides an outlet for their musical abilities while they pursue their major areas of study. The Choir of the North performs a wide variety of choral music. Included in its repertoire have been such standard works as Bach's cantatas and motets, Brahms' Zigeunerlieder, Britten's A Ceremony of Carols, the requiems of Mozart, Durufle and Faure, Byrd's Mass for Five Voices, and newer works such as Rutter's Gloria and the unusual The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore by Menotti. Russian choral music has long been a staple of the choir's repertoire. Recently performed works include Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil (Vespers) and a scene from Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Christmas Eve. Since its organization and in addition to regular concerts on the UAF campus, the Choir has made several Alaskan and Pacific Northwest tours and has visited Europe. The Choir of the North performs periodically with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and the Arctic Chamber Orchestra. Performances by the Choir of the North have been selected for national broadcast on the KUAC "Intrada" series, and the Choir's recording Carols of Christmas has been released by Golden Crest Records.

The University Chorus, being more than sixty years old, is one of the oldest musical organizations in Alaska and is open to both students and Fairbanks-area residents. The University Chorus' major concerts occur annually during the first or second weekend in December and the middle to last weekend in April. The University Chorus has participated in concerts with the Fairbanks Symphony including performances of Carmina Burana, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Handel's Messiah and Haydn's Creation and has sung with the Fairbanks Community Band and in traditional Christmas concerts with the U.S. Air Force Band of the Pacific.

It has been a policy of the University Chorus to support the revival of all but forgotten choral works from the 18th and 19th centuries as well as the creation and performance of new choral works by contemporary composers. A large number of those new works have been by Alaskan poets and composers.

The Northland Children's Choir was established in July, 2000 to provide quality music instruction in a choral setting and to strive for excellence in choral performances. The Choir emphasizes the development and understanding of music skills and encourages singers to look within themselves and find self-expression through singing.

Northland Children's Choir offers an opportunity to help develop good character and self-esteem in its members, hopefully resulting in lifelong benefits to the individual members and society. We bring together children and youth from across our entire community. Our choir is open to qualified singers from all cultural, economic, racial and religious backgrounds.

Auditions are held in May and August. Singers that meet the vocal requirements are accepted and placed according to skill level in one of our three choirs, Jubilate, Cantabile, and Touring.