Each year during the first week of December, the University of North Dakota’s Music Department hosts their Winter WUNDerland concert at the Chester Fritz Auditorium. This holiday concert is filled start to finish with beautiful festive music that the UND Choirs, various other musicians, and faculty have been working on diligently throughout the semester. This year’s Winter WUNDerland performance will be held on Saturday, December 7 at 1:30 p.m.
The purpose of Winter WUNDerland is to showcase a wide range of music from different cultures, religions, holidays, and genres. Each piece of music that will be performed is so different from each other, but they all have one thing in common; they represent winter.
This selected variety of music will be showcased by the large choral ensembles at UND. This includes the groups like Concert Choir, Varsity Bards, Allegro, and Vevo that are directed by Professor Casey Behm and Professor Melanie Popejoy. Along with these large ensembles, smaller ensembles will also be featured throughout the performance in between transitions between the larger groups. These smaller ensembles are made up of students in the UND Music Department who took time to meet outside of their usual class time in order to put together a piece to perform. This only further goes to show the level of effort and commitment these students and faculty put into this performance each year.
Along with commitment to ensure an incredible auditory experience for their audience, the individuals involved in planning this event also make an effort to create a visually appealing experience as well. They spend many hours rehearsing staging for the musicians to make sure everything moves smoothly. They also put together a new and festive set on stage each year. It varies from year to year but always fits into the common cozy, wintery theme they strive for with this event.
Each year, this performance looks so different, and there is always something new to grab the attention of the audience. It is an incredible tradition in the Grand Forks community and is an exciting way to kick off the month of December, get into the holiday spirit, and to close out the Fall semester. If you have not already, there is still time to buy tickets from the Chester Fritz Box Office. There will also be tickets available at the door at the time of the event. This event is not something you will want to miss this holiday season.
Nora Lee is a Dakota Student General Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].
