Wells College gets in tune for the season. Celebrating the Concert Choir's 48th annual holiday performance, Professor of music Crawford R. Thoburn will conduct the program, which features seasonal favorites for the men's, women's and combined choral ensembles.

This year will be a treat, as a new element has been added to the itinerary. Thoburn states that this is the first year the college will include a mixed-voice concert choir, with tenors and basses added to the sopranos and altos.

The concert will also be an endeavor to aid local food pantries as the admission fee is collected in cans of non-perishable foods. The decor will be festive by nature, sporting traditional pine trees and gleaming candlelight to create a Yuletide atmosphere.

This year's program is advertised as a choral sampler, with works ranging from Renaissance motets to American folk-songs and from the works of Baroque masters to African-American spirituals. Holiday favorites will include “Lo, How a Rose,” “Carol of the Bells,” “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and “Silent Night.” The students will also sing several published choral compositions written by Thoburn, including “There is No Rose of Such Virtue,” “Neath Starlit Skies” and “Venite Adoremus.”

If you go

What: 48th annual holiday choir concert

When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Barler Recital Hall, Wells College, Aurora

Cost: Free, with a suggested donation of one canned food item

For details: Call 364-3347 or visit www.wells.edu