It’s Christmas at Concordia time!

Students practice for weeks in the Borland Center for Music and Theatre to be ready for Christmas at Concordia.

Photo credit: Nora Betts

By Nora Betts and Josiah Horvath

This article is featured in the December print issue of the Sower newspaper. 

More than 200 Concordia students are preparing for Christmas at Concordia, a weekend of concerts that bring thousands of people to St. John Lutheran Church in Seward to celebrate the birth of Christ through joyful music.

“It is the story of the birth of the Savior. It is not a holiday concert,” said Dr. Kurt von Kampen, professor of music and director of the A Cappella Choir. “It is a seamless presentation of Scripture readings, hymn and carol singing, and performance of pieces by five different ensembles.”

The participating ensembles are the A Cappella Choir, Cantamus Women’s Choir, Male Chorus, University Wind Symphony and Handbell Choir. Several pieces throughout the concert also involve singing by the congregation and pipe organ accompaniment.

The performances on Dec. 6-8 are at 7 p.m. on Friday, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, and 3 p.m. on Sunday. Von Kampen said that there is no applause until the very end of each of the four events, so while it has a concert atmosphere, it is also a worship experience.

Student musicians have been getting excited for Christmas at Concordia for weeks.

“We have been rehearsing pieces in preparation for Christmas at Concordia since around the middle of October,” said junior Ernest Clausing, who will be singing with the Male Chorus for his third year. “If you hang around the music building for long enough, you’ll hear the preparation.”

He said that as he walked between classes, he could hear the other choirs rehearsing and organists practicing their pieces.

“Practice has involved many rehearsals and outside time in the practice room just repping notes and lyrics and so forth,” said Eliya Moldenhauer, a junior in the A Capella Choir.

Prof. Robert Cody conducts a Wind Symphony rehearsal at St. John Lutheran Church (photo: Megan Welch)

Moldenhauer said she is excited that her family is visiting for the weekend, and she looks forward to watching the performances of her fiancé, senior Timothy Mars.

Mars has five types of performances at Christmas at Concordia. He will do a Scripture reading with Moldenhauer, sing in the A Cappella Choir, play percussion in the University Wind Symphony, as well as play handbells and an organ piece.

“I am thrilled to be involved in that many things,” said Mars, noting that he is nervous for his organ piece but excited for everything else.

“A Cappella is really prepared,” said Mars. “The band will be prepared by the end of the week after break. Handbells is ready. It’ll be great.”

Timothy Dose, a sophomore in the Male Chorus, said rehearsals have been stressful with memorizing music, but he is excited for the concert. He said he loves Christmas at Concordia because of “the environment of everybody rejoicing.”

Junior Hannah Ethridge plays bass clarinet in the University Wind Symphony and sings in the Cantamus Women’s Choir. She has been involved in Christmas at Concordia for three years and said “it’s been awesome each year.”

She looks forward to seeing her family and hearing the performances by the Handbell Choir. Ethridge’s roommate, junior Rachel Brinkman, will sing in Cantamus with her and perform “a fugue for handbells” with the Handbell Choir.

Male Chorus member Jack Hagan, a junior, said he can’t wait for his parents to visit and hear the concert for the first time. He said the environment of Christmas at Concordia is unmatched.

“You have people from the community, people who are alumni, parents, you have all these people coming together for this concert and it’s just brilliant,” said Hagan.

Freshman Elizabeth Salo plays French horn in the Concordia Wind Symphony. She has never been to Christmas at Concordia but has “heard that it’s very cool.” She knows stories of alumni returning to Seward years later because they missed the unique joy of Christmas at Concordia.

“This lady at my church, her daughter went here and was in Wind Symphony, and she said that even after she graduated, she came back a couple other times just because she wanted to come [to Christmas at Concordia] again,” said Salo.

Mars said he loves the whole Christmas at Concordia experience, especially the finale of “Joy to the World,” which includes the pipe organ and is sung by every ensemble and the congregation.

“It’s hard to beat ‘Joy to the World’ at the end because that’s everything,” Mars said.

Pianist and Professor of Music Dr. Elizabeth Grimpo said Christmas at Concordia is an event that brings joy to people of all ages.

“Christmas at Concordia is special because it weaves congregational singing, choral and instrumental pieces, and Scripture into a beautiful Christian narrative of the Christmas story,” she said. “Christmas at Concordia is treasured by many, both young and old.”

The event has featured the same hymns and Scripture passages for 25 years, which von Kampen said people appreciate.

“The consistency is the thing that people value,” he said. “All the anthems the groups [perform] are new each year but the template is static.”

Clausing said that the consistency has led to those songs becoming associated with nervousness and giddiness, but also the joy of singing the news of the Savior’s birth with so many people.

“It still is nerve-wracking to think about walking up to the front to sing, but we sing joyously nonetheless, for it is a joyous occasion, and I can’t wait for it!” said Clausing.

Von Kampen said he appreciates the partnership of Pastor Scott Bruick and the staff at St. John for allowing the use of their church facilities.

“Without a concert hall of our own, we really do really rely on St. John making the commitment to us for Christmas at Concordia and all the other concerts we hold in the sanctuary each year,” said von Kampen.

He said he is grateful for the advancement and alumni relations offices and their help to ensure that things run smoothly. He also thanked Cattle Bank for its continued support over the many years.

“We are fortunate that they continue to want to support the event and celebrate the birth of Jesus in this way,” said von Kampen.

Ethridge encouraged anyone and everyone to come to Christmas at Concordia and to rejoice in the celebration of Christ’s birth.

“Christmas at Concordia is legendary and everyone who is able to should come and participate,” said Ethridge, “or at least share the joy of Christmas with the people around them.”