The Nov. 15 event at Lehman Auditorium includes a collaborative performance of Handel’s 鈥淢essiah鈥� and two pieces composed by new professor , as well as a wide variety of selections from the campus鈥檚 musical community. The performance begins at 7 p.m. Admission is free, but a suggested donation of $10 per person benefits the music scholarship fund.

The wind ensemble, with more than 25 student musicians, will open the gala with Jean-Joseph Mouret’s 鈥淪uite des Symphonies.鈥� Conductor John Dull appreciates the increased exposure the group will receive, as the gala is their largest audience of the year.

The centerpiece of the concert is the popular Part I of Handel鈥檚 鈥淢essiah,鈥� performed by the Chamber Singers, men’s and women’s choirs, with the orchestra. Popularly called the 鈥淐hristmas鈥� movement, Part I celebrates the birth of Jesus and ends with the rousing 鈥淗allelujah鈥� chorus.

鈥淓very student should have a chance to sing it or play it some time,鈥� says Nafziger, of the Baroque oratorio.

Music professor , the orchestra鈥檚 conductor who will play the violin as well, says she enjoys the camaraderie of playing alongside her students. 鈥淭he collaboration is what I really enjoy,鈥� she says.

instructor Christa Hoover and graduate student Katrina Gehman will also play violin in the gala as soloists in Sarasate’s 鈥淣avarra鈥� with the orchestra, a 鈥渟uper effervescent, whirlwind violin duo,鈥� says Hoover.

Both violinists are Wheaton College alumni now teaching with the . Their friendship contributes to the close listening required to harmonize in the duet. Gehman, who has played violin since she was eight, hopes 鈥渢hat the audience in this gala can connect through the music with the parts of themselves that cannot be expressed in words, and yet still long to speak.鈥�

Sharing personal experience and reflective moments are also what rewards Keebaugh when writing music. The chamber choir and string quartet will perform one of his compositions, titled 鈥溾�hy light which is brighter than the sun and the moon.鈥� Keebaugh wrote the piece for Winchester’s Musica Viva concert last year in tribute to Jim Harmon, a beloved Virginian singer who died of cancer.

鈥淚t was an act of love and sorrow and respect,鈥� said Nafziger, who upon hearing the piece, immediately wanted the chance to conduct it.

鈥淭o have that honor to commemorate someone’s life in a piece of music is a wonderful thing,鈥� said Keebaugh. The piece, which revolves around themes of light and dawn, took him eight months to compose.

Junior Sarah Sutter will sing the melody in Keebaugh’s adaptation of 鈥淭he Lord’s Prayer鈥� with the women’s choir. She appreciates the unique opportunity to work with the composer and learn the inspiration and intent behind the music. In this version of 鈥淭he Lord’s Prayer,鈥� the choir surrounds the audience while mimicking the echoes of singing in a cave or cathedral. With this format, Keebaugh intends to make the audience part of the ensemble 鈥� breaking down the 鈥渦s versus them鈥� structure of traditional performance to better commune the personal sacred themes he writes into music.

Other musical numbers include Bartok’s 鈥淩omanian Folk Dances,鈥� a contemporary orchestra piece, and 鈥淢usic Down in My Soul,鈥� a spiritual arrangement by Moses Hogan in the chamber singers’ repertoire.

鈥淓ven if you think that classical music isn鈥檛 your thing, you should come and give it a shot,鈥� says Sutter. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing things in a whole range of styles and eras, so come and listen before you say you don鈥檛 like it!鈥�

For more information, contact the at 540-432-4225.