SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music Hosts Traditional Candlelight Concerts on Sunday, Dec. 4, to be Filmed & Broadcast by Mountain Lake PBS
Students will fill the stage during the Crane Candlelight Concerts at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music again this year. This year’s performances will be held on Sunday, Dec. 4, at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Nearly 300 student and faculty musicians from SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music will take the stage on Sunday, Dec. 4, in celebration of the holiday season, with the 2022 Crane Candlelight Concerts.
This year, Crane will welcome guest conductor the Rev. Dr. Raymond Wise to lead the free performances, which will be held at 3 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4 in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall. The evening performance will also stream live online.
An internationally renowned gospel conductor and composer, Dr. Wise will conduct the Crane Chorus in gospel renditions of holiday works, including several of his own original compositions and arrangements of classic tunes. The Crane Jazz Ensemble, directed by Dr. Michael Dudley, will take the stage for several songs, including selections from Duke Ellington’s arrangements of “The Nutcracker Suite.” The Crane Symphony Orchestra, directed by Dr. Adrian Slywotsky, will join the Crane Chorus to close out the program.
Singalongs with the audience will make a comeback this year, after a hiatus due to pandemic restrictions. Professor Dr. Jessica Suchy-Pilalis will also conduct her setting of “Kanon of St. Kosmas for the Nativity,” in a translation from the original Greek. Additional highlights include favorites like “Carol of the Bells” and a Bach cantata chorus, as well as “Jerusalem: A Meditation for Peace” by Kenneth Lampl, and the “Dream Pantomime” from the opera “Hansel and Gretel.”
“The giving of gifts is a tradition shared by many holidays, and we hope Candlelight serves as both a North Country tradition and a gift—a way to thank our entire community for another year of generous support,” said Crane School of Music Dean Dr. William Gibbons.
These annual Crane School of Music holiday celebration performances are a major highlight of the Crane concert season. The holiday concert tradition began in the 1930s, at what was then the Crane Institute of Music at Potsdam Normal School and has continued to grow in prominence ever since.
SUNY Potsdam and The Crane School of Music invite you to join us for this free family-friendly event. Audience members are invited to bring a donation of canned goods or non-perishable items to benefit local food pantries.
Wise’s visit is made possible by the Dorothy Albrecht Gregory ’61 Visiting Conductor Fund, which brings distinguished conductors to The Crane School of Music for festival performances.
The Crane Candlelight Concert evening performance will also be broadcast live on YouTube at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 4. To view the program and see the performance, visit www.potsdam.edu/cranelive.
Mountain Lake PBS will film the Candlelight Concert once again for a nationally syndicated public television broadcast.
The station will broadcast this year’s Crane Candlelight Concert as follows:
-
Monday, Dec. 19: 8 p.m.
-
Tuesday, Dec. 20: 12:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.
-
Friday, Dec. 23: 1 p.m. (2021 concert “Peace and Love”) and 2 p.m. (2022 concert)
-
Saturday, Dec. 24: 9 p.m.
-
Sunday, Dec. 25: 2:30 p.m.
North Country Public Radio will record the concert to air regionally this holiday season as well.
About The Crane School of Music:
Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York’s only All-Steinway institution and was one of the first Yamaha Institutions of Excellence. For more information, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.
General News Arts & Culture