Dec. 4: Some carols, a spot of cocoa and a bit of Handel

Get the holiday season started in style with music and a spot of hot chocolate as Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music presents Carols & Cocoa and the Dana Holiday Concert 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, in Stambaugh Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Avenue.

Tickets are available in advance at the Stambaugh Auditorium Box Office, by phone at 330-259-0555 or online at www.stambaughauditorium.com. Tickets will also be available that evening. Tickets are $11 for adults, $6 for students from other schools and senior citizens. The event is free for children under 12 and anyone with a valid YSU ID.

The event begins with Carols & Cocoa in Stambaugh’s Ballroom, featuring seasonal musical favorites performed by the Dana Clarinet Ensemble, Dana Flute Ensemble, Trombone Ensemble, Stambaugh Chorus, Dana Horn Choir, Dana Chorale, YSU Barbershop Chorus-“One Achord” and the Festival Symphonic Choir, concluding with an audience holiday sing-along. New ensembles performing this year include Voices of YSU and the Gospel Choir.

At intermission, and before the start of the second performance of the evening, cocoa and cookies will be available in the upper lobby.

The second half of the event, the Dana Holiday Concert, is in the Concert Hall and includes music by the YSU Wind Ensemble, Dana Symphony Orchestra, Dana Chorale and the Festival Symphonic Choir. The featured repertoire includes African Sanctus, selections from Messiah by G. F. Handel and a variety of other holiday selections.

Dana alumnus Victor Cardamone, tenor, returns for a solo performance, while individual faculty performing include Misook Yun, soprano, and Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello. Kathryn Davison Miller will perform the organ prelude and postlude. Guest performs include the Franklin High School Madrigal, Howland High School Chamber Choir and Stambaugh Chorus.

Other holiday-related events hosted by the YSU Cliffe College of Creative Arts & Communication:

• Monday, Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m. The annual Keyboard Holiday Extravaganza in Bliss Recital Hall, featuring classical and holiday music for piano. Followed at approximately 8 p.m. in Bliss Hall’s Ford Theater, the YSU Percussion Ensemble hosts guest artist Forrest Pierce, an American composer, poet and student of the mysticism of sound and music. Both events are free and open to the public.
• Wednesday, Dec. 4, 12:15 p.m. The final Music at Noon program for fall semester in the Butler Institute of American Art features Musical Theatre students performing “A Jolly Holiday.” Free and open to the public.
• Saturday, Dec. 14, 1 p.m., the YSU Horn Studiohosts “Horns A’ Caroling” at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 323 Wick Avenue, Youngstown. French horn players of all ages are welcome to join the horn studio for an afternoon of music making and refreshments. Registration at ysu.edu/music/horns-a-caroling. Free and open to the public.

For more information, call 330-941-2307.