Children are at the heart of Christmas. And what better way to celebrate the holidays than with the wondrous voices of a world-class children’s choir?
O Clap Your Hands: Christmas with the Columbus Children’s Choir features the New World Singers, the international touring ensemble of the Columbus Children’s Choir, in seasonal selections ranging from traditional favorites to works by contemporary composers.
The New World Singers’ 85 members are all students at Columbus-area high schools.
At the time the musical selections were recorded in Capital University’s Mees Auditorium, the choir was preparing for performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall and for an Austrian tour. The tour featured a performance with the world-renowned Vienna Boys’ Choir and performances as guest artists at Hungary’s Kodaly Institute.
“It’s my immense pleasure and joy to be working with these kids,” said Jeanne Wohlgamuth, artistic director of the Columbus Children’s Choir and conductor of the New World Singers. “They bring so much enthusiasm, so much devotion, so much talent to our organization, and they work so hard every rehearsal.”
You can hear the fruits of all that hard work on O Clap Your Hands: Christmas with the Columbus Children’s Choir in the jazzy Mass by Hungarian composer György Orbán, the sublime Gounod Ave Maria and the delicately beautiful Prayer of the Children by Kurt Bestor.
Also on the program are a stunning performance of the ethereal Mountain Nights by Alan Hovhaness, and a grand finale with Stephen Chatman’s joyous O Clap Your Hands and spirituals that will blow the roof off your holiday festivities.
Join me for O Clap Your Hands: Christmas with the Columbus Children’s Choir Thursday, Dec. 17 at 9 p.m. and Christmas Day at 11 a.m. on Classical 101, streaming at wosu.org/classical101and via the free WOSU Public Media mobile app.
