Christmaspresents

ChristmasA Gift of Music for the Community

at Auburn UMCat Auburn UMC

A Gift of Music for the Community

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Welcome

Voctave - December 1

Christmas Handbell Concert - December 3

Christmas Festival 2019 - December 8

Christmas Keyboards, Carols, Candlelight &

Chocolate - December 15

Denver & the Mile High Orchestra - December 22

Advent Live at 12:05 - December 5, 12 & 19

Year in Review

Christmas Services

WelcomeWelcome one and all to this year’s Musical Christmas Season at Auburn UMC! We are so thrilled to be able to bring these wonderful musical experiences to our community again this year thanks to the generosity of the many financial contributors to our Designated Music Fund. Without their support, we could not continue this wonderful outreach as a gift to our community.

We are so thrilled to be able to host programming of this quality with no tickets required. We hope you’ll consider becoming a contributor to our Designated Music Fund to help sustain this exceptional annual tradition.

Each Sunday in December you will have the opportunity to hear some of the highest caliber musical artistry available at any venue in the country. To be able to share the music of this kind in the beauty of our sanctuary will offer listeners a memorable Christmas blessing you won’t experience anywhere else. From the opening concert with the incomparable vocal artistry of Voctave, to the closing concert with Denver and the Mile High Orchestra, you will find inspiring Christmas miracles through music in an inspiring way. Plus, you will enjoy the largest scale Choral and Orchestral performance in the entire area as we host our 19th annual Christmas Festival Concert. This year’s production

will feature the amazing composer, Heather Sorenson, joining us for the Auburn premiere of the Christmas work, “Christmas Dreams.” Also joining our Festival Choir and full professional orchestra will be another of Lee County’s best choirs, our friends from Providence Baptist Church, under the direction of Dr. Tom Smith. Also, back by popular demand is the 4-piano concert “Christmas Keyboards, Candlelight, Carols, and Chocolate.” This was one of the best attended concerts ever held at Auburn UMC. We’re delighted to offer it to you again this year.

In addition to our Sunday concerts, you won’t want to miss our Advent musical programs each Thursday during the Advent season. Here, you’ll have opportunity to join us for “Advent Live at 12:05” to catch your breath and experience the peace, tranquility, and joy of this most wonderful time of year.

We hope to see you at many of the musical programs this Christmas Season as through music, we remember that truly Jesus is the reason for this season.

To God be the Glory!

Gary KlarenbeekDirector of Music Ministries

Welcome

Gary Klarenbeek3

VoctaveBack by popular demand: Voctave! Voctave drew the largest audience attendance of any guest artist performance in the past 20 years. We’re thrilled to welcome them back for their first concert of the season. A cappella sensation Voctave shot to prominence after garnering over 100 million online views of their videos in just two years. Formed in 2015 by producer and arranger Jamey Ray, the voices that bring their arrangements to life represent a wealth of diverse backgrounds and musical experiences. Hailing from Central Florida, the eleven members of Voctave have performed across the globe and appear on countless recordings. The group has performed with GRAMMY, Dove and American Music Award recipients including Sandi Patty, Pentatonix’s Kirstin Maldonado, Mark Lowry, David Phelps, and Jody McBrayer. With multiple #1 songs and albums on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify, Voctave has also ranked in the top 25 on Billboard Magazine’s charts. Voctave’s five albums are digitally available on all platforms. The group’s performance at Auburn UMC will be the group’s first performance of their 2019 Christmas tour. The remaining tour dates are listed on their Facebook page.

Sunday, December 1 at 3:00 p.m. // Sanctuary

Voctave

Voctave

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HandbellAs a part of our Christmas concert series at Auburn UMC, the handbell program is hosting their first Christmas concert on Tuesday, December 3 at 6:30pm in the Chapel. All six groups will play, with performers ranging from Kindergartners to retirees. The performance will include favorite sacred and secular pieces from the Christmas season, with fun arrangements for the whole family to enjoy. Join us as we prepare our hearts for the coming of our Savior!

Tuesday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m. // Founders’ Chapel

HandbellCONCERT

CHRISTMAS

FestivalThe 19th annual Christmas Festival will be held on Sunday, December 8. Each year, Christmas Festival is one of the largest musical productions in Lee County and this year will be no exception. It’s guaranteed to be a feast for the eyes and the ears with full professional orchestra, dramatic lighting effects, and the 100+ voice Festival Choir composed of members from our Chancel Choir which recently performed in Carnegie Hall in New York and Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Joining the singing tour de force is the Providence Baptist Church Choir and guest singers from the community. An added special feature for this year’s evening performance will be guest composer and pianist, Heather Sorenson, as the choir premieres her Christmas work entitled, “Christmas Dreams.”

11:00 AM – Festival Worship Service of Lessons and Carols Christmas Festival Sunday will begin with an 11:00 Festival Worship service of inspiring music presented by the Festival Choir and full professional orchestra in a thrilling service of Advent and Christmas music interspersed with Scripture readings to fix our hearts and minds on the coming of our Savior.

6:30 PM – Christmas Festival Symphonic Pops Concert Christmas Festival will continue with our most ambitious holiday Pops performance to date. This year’s production will feature the Auburn Premiere of Heather Sorenson’s newest Christmas work, “Christmas Dreams” as Heather joins us for its premier. Also joining us in the premiere of the “Christmas Dreams” will be the wonderful Providence Baptist Choir under the direction of Dr. Tom Smith. The second half of the concert will warm your hearts with all your holiday favorites from the sacred to the Pops with exciting new arrangements by many of our country’s premiere arrangers and orchestrators. There will be exciting music for every musical taste. The high energy performance with dazzling lighting effects and scenery make this a great musical treat for the whole family. A nursery is provided for young children. Don’t miss the biggest choral and orchestral concert of the season. No tickets are required, but a love offering will be received.

Sunday, December 8 at 3:00 p.m. // Sanctuary

FestivalCHRISTMAS

2019

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Keyboards&

Auburn UMC is thrilled to host the second annual Keyboards, Carols, Candlelight and Chocolate concert featuring forty flying fingers with the four piano artistry of pianists Sandra Watwood, Teresa Rhyne, John Norton, and Gary Klarenbeek. To hear four exceptional pianists on four grand pianos is a rare and special musical treat especially during the holiday season. Also featured in the program will be Pam Schroeder and Michelle Reed. Following the concert, a chocolate dessert buffet will be held in the church’s Mathison Lobby.

Musical highlights include inspiring arrangement of beloved carols including “Urkainian Bell Carol,” “O Holy Night,” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” as well as entertaining secular pieces including “Sleigh Ride,” and “Up On the Housetop.” The eclectic program will be enjoyed by all ages. No tickets are required and a love offering will be received.

Sunday, December 15 at 6:30 p.m. // Sanctuary

KeyboardsCAROLS,

CANDLELIGHT

CHRISTMAS

CHOCOLATE

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OrchestraDenver and the Mile High Orchestra will make their second appearance at Auburn UMC on December 22. Their 2016 performance was met with thunderous applause and great delight by an audience of all ages from children to senior citizens. It’s a delightful performance for all ages.

What is the measure of a band? Devoted fans? Longevity? A body of work that continues to grow and is as fresh today as it was the day it was recorded?

Denver Bierman and the Mile High Orchestra can answer yes to all of those questions and more as they continue shaping and defining who they are as artists and defying genres and generations. With the band’s recent release called “Mile

High Hymns” to their Dove Award winning children’s album “Groovy” they should ensure their fan base far into the future, without disappointing those who have come to love their unique style over the years.

Now with 12 projects under their belt DMHO continues to produce the kind of music that delights fans and audiences around the world – crafting their own work with an eye towards always stretching the envelope and taking a new exciting look at old classics and hymns.

Blending a red hot horn section, along with jazz and big band roots, Denver and the Mile High Orchestra have created a power funk sound that defies description and is unlike any other. With Denver Bierman, writing and

Sunday, December 22 at 3:00 p.m. // Sanctuary

OrchestraDENVER AND

THE MILE HIGH

arranging the band’s music, the diverse sounds of legends such as Stevie Wonder, Chicago, and Earth Wind and Fire combine for a fresh look at contemporary pop.

The band has come a long way from those humble beginnings to network TV.Denver and the Mile High Orchestra wowed all of America, as they made the finale of the FOX-TV “American Idol” spin off “The Next Great American Band.” They’ve garnered praise and a devoted fan base from Greece to Hollywood, having played the Summer Olympics in Athens, and the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

While the music is what defines the band, the live show makes a fan for life. Tight production, a lot of fun and the unexpected make “DMHO Live” an experience like no other.

Members of the band through the years have also played for such artists as The Who, Kelly Clarkson, Donna Summer,Tower of Power, as well as tons of Christian artists like Mercy Me, Matthew West, Jaci Velasquez, Avalon, and the list goes on and on. With fans of all ages, the band continues to live up to what they feel they were called to be – an inspiration for the whole family. 11

AdventFeaturing the soaring harmonies of the Women’s Ensemble. The vocal artistry of this group of women’s voices will showcase a widely diverse repertoire including “Bring a Torch, Jeannette Isabella,” “Wexford Carol,” a rousing carol medley entitle “A Garland of Carols” as well as the powerful “God Bless Us Everyone” from Disney’s “A Christmas Carol. The Women’s Ensemble will be accompanied by Sandra Watwood.

Women’s EnsembleThursday, December 12 at 12:05 // Founders’ Chapel

Featuring the vocal harmonies of 6 For Him, soloist Jacquie Cruz, organist Sandra Watwood, and pianist Gary Klarenbeek performing an eclectic program of inspiring vocal music and instrumental music on the magnificent sanctuary organ and piano. This eclectic program will be sure to put you in the Christmas spirit as you will hear a diverse program of holiday favorites.

6 For HimThursday, December 19 at 12:05 // Sanctuary

Featuring the dynamic Jubilate Singers, a highly skilled ensemble of mixed voices. Musical highlights will include the beloved “E’en So Lord Jesus Quickly Come,” “Lost In the Night,” and many familiar carol favorites. Jubilate Singers will be accompanied by pianist, Sandra Watwood.

Jubilate SingersThursday, December 5 at 12:05 // Founders’ Chapel

Advent LiveAT 12:05

Join us each Thursday at 12:05 during the advent for Music of the Season. Enjoy festive and heartwarming music each Thursday to

prepare your heart for the coming of the Christ Child. We provide a unique opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of Christmas

preparations to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

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Jubilate Singers

Jubilate

ReviewWhat a year it has been for the Music Ministry of Auburn UMC! For a church choir to receive an invitation to sing at Lincoln Center in New York City in 2018 was a tremendous honor. In 2019, our own Chancel Choir was once again tremendously honored to be invited to sing at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as a part of the National Memorial Day Choral Festival, as well as the premiere of Heather Sorenson’s Christmas work, “Christmas Dreams” at Carnegie Hall! By the time you receive this brochure, the choir will have just returned from this amazing musical and educational experience. Our choir even received a City Proclamation from Auburn City Mayor, Ron Anders, and a Proclamation from the Governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, recognizing our choir for it’s commitment to excellence. What a tremendous honor for our Music Ministry!

In addition, our handbell ministry – 6 choirs strong – under the direction of Pam Schroeder continues to flourish in wonderful ways. Under Pam’s leadership, all six groups will be featured in concert for the first time during the Christmas season here at Auburn UMC.Our newly formed Children’s Choirs, Cherub, Star Choir, and Grace Notes, have doubled in size this year offering children increasing ways to grow in their God-given gifts and grow in service to their church by regularly participating in worship service leadership throughout the year.

2019 also provided an opportunity for our Festival Choir and Orchestra to host the 18th annual Star Spangled Spectacular to a standing room only audience. What an opportunity it is to share programming of this quality with our church and the community. We are blessed that the community has enthusiastically recognized our church for excellence in choral and instrumental music in worship and in concert.

We can only imagine what great things God has in store for our Music Ministry as we continue to dream big dreams for Him! We thank the many donors to our Designated Music Fund which has made this phenomenal growth possible.

ReviewYEAR IN

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December 8Lessons and Carols service // Sanctuary, 11 a.m.

December 22Children’s Musical at all Services // Sanctuary, 8, 9:30, 11 a.m.Longest Night Memorial Service // Auburn UMC Chapel, 5:30 p.m.

December 24Family Worship Service with Children’s Pageant // Sanctuary, 3 p.m.Live Nativity // Sanctuary Front Lawn, 4-7 p.m. Celebration Candlelight Service // Sanctuary, 5 p.m.Traditional Candlelight Service // Sanctuary, 7 p.m.Traditional Candlelight Service // Auburn UMC Chapel, 11 p.m.

For a complete list of Advent activities, please visit www.christmasinauburn.com or the

Music Ministry Facebook page.

Christmas Season Services Services