From Medieval to Jazz and Everything in Between, There’s Music for Every Listener and Every Budget

The holidays wouldn’t be complete without music, and this December, Clayton State University’s Spivey Hall decks its elegant halls with both the sights and sounds of the winter celebration. Against a beautiful backdrop of brightly decorated trees and wreaths, December concertgoers will experience a diverse array of music, including holiday pieces both familiar and new, in a variety of musical styles from jazz to medieval, with stops at bluegrass, a cappella, gospel and choral along the way.

“What would the holidays be without music?” said Sam Dixon, Spivey Hall’s executive and artistic director. “Singing takes pride of place this time of year, with traditional tunes evoking cherished memories, and excellent musicians of all ages offering music new and old to discover and enjoy.”

With I’ll Be Home for Christmas, The Fred Hughes Trio (December 3) fuses familiar holiday tunes with “equal shares of jazz improvisation, gospel-tinged soul, and funky blues” (AXS.com). American lutenist Hopkinson Smith (December 3) brings the music of Shakespeare’s time to life with MAD DOG: The Elizabethan Lute.  Skylark Vocal Ensemble returns to Spivey Hall (December 11) to close the Hall’s holiday season with a program of a cappella Christmas music spanning the centuries.

Spivey Hall’s holiday schedule also provides budget-friendly options for family outings. Clayton State University’s Department of Visual and Performing Arts / Division of Music presents Christmas at Clayton State (December 2 and 4), with performances from the CSU Orchestra, the CSU Community Chorus and the CSU Chorale. Spivey’s Young People’s Concert Series brings Holiday Blues from Cedar Hill Bluegrass (December 6), with tickets priced as low as $2.00. And no holiday would be complete without the angelic harmonies of the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir (December 9, 10 and 11), including carol sing-alongs with Spivey Organist-in-Residence Alan Morrison and lots of Christmas cookies!   

The Clayton State Prep School, a community engagement arm of the Clayton State University Division of Music, presents a student recital concert, accompanied by the Clayton County Honors Orchestra; attendance is free to the public.

For tickets or more information, call the Spivey Hall Box Office at (678) 466-4200, or visit spiveyhall.org. In addition to the standard ticket pricing indicated for each performance, there is a 50 percent discount available to students and Georgia educators with ID. Discounted single tickets are available only through the box office, which is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m.to 5:00 p.m.; series subscriptions are now available online for purchase.

Christmas at Clayton State

Clayton State University Orchestra

Dr. Richard Bell, conductor

Clayton State University Chorale

Clayton State Community Chorus

Dr. Michael Fuchs, conductor

Friday, December 2, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 4, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.

Vocal and instrumental forces combine to create a fresh new holiday tradition: Christmas at Clayton State, in two performances featuring Clayton State student and community choruses under the direction of Dr. Michael Fuchs, and the CSU Orchestra led by Dr. Richard Bell. Caroling by a select ensemble of Clayton State singers will regale arriving audience members beginning at 7:00 p.m.  It’s a wonderful experience and excellent value for the whole family, including children ages 6 and up.

Tickets are priced at $10 for adults and $5 for students and are available for purchase now.

Fred Hughes Trio: I’ll Be Home for Christmas

Saturday, December 3, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.

Jazz pianist Fred Hughes is joined by Amy Shook on bass and Frank Russo on drums for I’ll Be Home for Christmas, the Trio’s seasonal offering inspired by its 2015 album. That recording received five Stars from the Amazon Top 100 reviewer and finished out 2015 in the number five slot on the CMJ Jazz Radio Chart. The Trio’s December Spivey Hall program includes several selections from that album, including an excellent rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” “It swings, it relaxes, and it is always done with a lot of style and taste.” (All About Jazz)

Tickets are priced at $40 (with discounts for subscribers, groups, students and Georgia educators), and are available for purchase now.

MAD DOG: The Elizabethan Lute

Hopkinson Smith, lute

Saturday, December 3, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

Since the mid 80s, American lutenist Hopkinson Smith has focused principally on solo music for early plucked instruments, including the vihuela, Renaissance lute, theorbo, Renaissance and baroque guitars and the baroque lute. His performances bring to life works that are among the most expressive and intimate in the entire domain of early music. “… a master of his instrument, Smith not only achieved prodigies of prestidigitation in the faster pieces, but in the slower ones, his superfine delicacy of touch evoked just the kind of magic that so much of Shakespeare’s work shared with his contemporaries in that same golden age of English music, drama, and literature.” (Seen and Heard International)

Smith’s Spivey Hall program, MAD DOG: The Elizabethan Lute, will feature rhapsodic Pavans, spirited Gailliards, striking character pieces, and elaborate variations of the 1580s and 90s by lute virtuosos John Johnson, Anthony Holborne and John Dowland.

Tickets are priced at $40 (with discounts for subscribers, groups, students and Georgia educators), and are available for purchase now.

Hopkinson Smith’s performance is made possible through the generosity of Spivey Hall Friends Concert Sponsors Elizabeth P. Kirk and Alfred Land.

Holiday Blues

Cedar Hill Bluegrass

Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at 11:15 a.m.

Formed by its patriarch and mandolin player Frank Ray some 40 years ago, Cedar Hill is a traditional Bluegrass band made up of five accomplished musicians and singers who have stayed true to their Ozark roots. The holiday program is high energy, interactive, and exciting for all ages, filled with tight harmony, unique vocal arrangements, and masterful picking on the 5-string banjo, mandolin, acoustic guitar and electric bass.

Cedar Hill’s December concert is part of Spivey Hall’s Young People Concerts series, created for children and youth in pre-K to grade 12, but open to community members of all ages. Concerts cost just $2 in advance, $5 on the day of the concert, and are available for purchase now.  

Complete information on YPCs and Spivey Hall’s education program is available at spiveyhall.org/educational-programs/.

Clayton County Honor Orchestra

Dr. Richard Bell, conductor

Nancy Conley, conductor

Clayton State Prep School

Recitals

Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

A community engagement arm of the Clayton State University Division of Music, the Music Preparatory School provides professional music instruction to area children and adults in preparation for professional advancement or for lifelong musical enjoyment. The Clayton County Honor Orchestra is open to beginning and intermediate violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano students. Select Clayton State University music majors teach students of all ages in weekly private lessons to prepare them for participation in local youth and community orchestras or for personal enrichment.

Admission to this Division of Music performance is free, with no tickets required.

Spivey Hall Young Artists

Spivey Hall Children’s Choir

Spivey Hall Tour Choir

Friday, December 9, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.

Spivey Hall Children’s Choir

Spivey Hall Tour Choir

Saturday, December 10, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.

The Spivey Hall Children’s Choir Program, led by founding director Dr. Martha Shaw, marks the holiday season on a high note with a delightful fusion of classic favorites and new selections from around the world. These holiday concerts showcase the talents of the 170-member Children’s Choir Program singers who perform in three choirs, including the Spivey Hall Young Artists conducted by Craig Hurley, and the 50 most advanced Children’s Choir singers, the Spivey Hall Tour Choir, conducted by Dr. Shaw. All perform a variety of music with remarkable beauty of expression, spirit and refinement.

The Spivey Hall Young Artists will make its season debut on Friday, December 9.  For many of the young performers it will be their first experience on the Spivey stage.  The group will open with a Hawley Ades arrangement of “Caroling, Caroling.”  Next they will perform Burkhardt’s arrangement of Bach’s “Prepare Thyself Zion” and “Winter Dream” by James Desjardins, both accompanied by Children’s Choir alumna Courtney Anderson on the violin.  The group will close their set with the rousing “Hine Ma Tov” by Allan E. Naplan.

The Spivey Hall Children’s Choir and nationally honored Tour Choir will perform holiday and winter songs from around the world, accompanied by famed organist Alan Morrison on the magnificent Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ created for Spivey Hall by Fratelli Ruffatti in Padua, Italy.

Each of the three concerts will also include audience sing-alongs of traditional holiday carols accompanied by Morrison, (who holds the McGehee Family Organist Residency at Spivey Hall) plus an abundance of cookies for everyone.

Tickets are priced at $25 (with discounts for subscribers, groups, students and Georgia educators), and are available for purchase now.

The Spivey Hall Children’s Choir Program’s December performances are made possible in part                through the generosity of its Spivey Hall Friends Concert Sponsor, The University Financing Foundation, Inc.

A Skylark Christmas

Skylark Vocal Ensemble

Matthew Guard, director

Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

The Skylark Vocal Ensemble makes a welcome return to Spivey to take the audience on a journey through select excerpts of the Christmas story from the King James Bible, enhanced and celebrated through timeless carols. Atlanta native Matthew Guard directs a premier ensemble of leading American vocal soloists; the group has been called “a gem” by ArtsAtlanta and “musically creative and intellectually rich” by Opera Obsession.

Tickets are priced at $40 (with discounts for subscribers, groups, students and Georgia educators), and are available for purchase now. #  #  #

 About Spivey Hall

Now celebrating its 26th season, Spivey Hall is the South’s most acoustically superior recital hall, presenting the best in classical, jazz and world music. Located on the picturesque campus of Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, just fifteen miles southeast of Atlanta, the hall has been praised by artists, patrons and journalists alike.

This season, Spivey Hall celebrates the 25th anniversary of its magnificent 4,413-pipe Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ, custom-built in Italy by Fratelli Ruffatti, with special events and concerts.

An intimate venue with just 392 seats, Spivey Hall promotes for the concert-goer a personal connection with the artist both during and after the performance.  Spivey’s extraordinary acoustics and reputation for distinguished programming attract outstanding international musicians who regularly perform at the nation’s major concert venues such as Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. For more information, visit spiveyhall.org.

Clayton State University’s Spivey Hall gratefully acknowledges the support of The Walter and Emilie Spivey Foundation and the Spivey Hall Friends.

Alan Morrison holds the McGehee Family Organist Residency at Spivey Hall.

Spivey Hall’s Season 26 is supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. GCA also receives support from its partner agency – the National Endowment for the Arts.

About Clayton State University

A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta. For more information, visit clayton.edu.