MASON CITY – The North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) Concert Choir and NIACC Singers Winter Concert will be held in the North Iowa Community Auditorium on Sunday, December 9 at 2:00 p.m. This year’s winter concert features a mixture of sacred and secular seasonal music along with other popular selections.
The choirs will treat the audience with seasonal flavor songs to kick off the holiday season. Holiday favorites from the Concert Choir will include “What Child is This” and “Joy to the World.” The NIACC Singers will be performing their annual tribute to service members currently deployed entitled “Sending You a Little Christmas” and a fantastic a cappella settings of “Mary Did You Know” as sung by Pentatonix and “Mistletoe” as sung by Justin Bieber. Winter themed music will also include “Glow” by Eric Whitacre, a feature number by the NIACC Singers women “All I want for Christmas is You,” and a pair of songs celebrating the trend for Ugly Christmas Sweaters.
“Along with the holiday selections we will present some great collegiate choral staples,” said Jayson Ryner, NIACC Director of Choral Activities. “Our semester starts in August so we spent a good deal of time working on great choral music with an international flare.”
The choir presented three of these selections at First United Methodist Church and Trinity Lutheran Church, both in Mason City earlier in November. “It was wonderful to be out in the community and receive such a warm response to our singing,” added Ryner.
“The activities within the choral program are designed to give students a small private college vocal experience. By traveling to sing with other schools, using international travel, and community performances the students get a broad experience.”
The Concert Choir and NIACC Singers will be joined by members of the North Iowa Symphony and other area musicians. “Singing with an orchestra is something many of the students have not had the opportunity to do,” said Ryner. “We are very lucky to have so many people willing to share their time and talents to add to the collegiate experience here at NIACC. It is rare enough for students to be able to sing with orchestra at college. Even many of the private colleges do not have that opportunity. It is almost unheard of at a community college.”
General admission tickets for the December 9 concert are available by calling the NIACC Box office at 641-422-4188 and may also be purchased at the door. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for students.
