On Nov. 23 and 24, Drake University’s Department of Music will present Hodie, a Christmas cantata, by the great English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The concerts will feature nearly 300 performers, including all four Drake choruses (Drake Choir, Chamber Choir, Chorale, Drake University/Community Chorus), a student/faculty orchestra, student soloists, and the Heartland Youth Choir, conducted by Aimee Beckmann-Collier, director of choral studies and professor of conducting. The concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday in the St. Ambrose Cathedral in downtown Des Moines.
Tickets are $15 for non-students and $5 for students. To purchase tickets, call Drake’s Fine Arts box office at 515-271-2841. Box office hours are Monday through Friday 12–6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 12–4 p.m. Limited tickets will be available at the door.
A pre-concert panel discussion focused on the texts, music, and context of Hodie will take place an hour before each concert at the St. Ambrose Parish Center, located next to the Cathedral. The discussion will be lead by Joseph Lenz, dean of Drake’s College of Arts and Sciences; Eric Saylor, associate professor of Music History at Drake University; Mark Mattes, professor of religion and philosophy at Grand View University, and Kyle Lechtenberg, director of the Office for Worship for the Diocese of Des Moines.
For more information, contact Aimee Beckmann-Collier at 515-271-2841 or aimee.beckmann-collier@drake.edu.