The Community Choir & Orchestra will perform “Seeking A King, Finding Grace” this Christmas season
Free admission and all are welcome to the December 9 & 10, 2023 performances
Wahpeton, N.D. (11/27/2023) – Residents from Wahpeton, Breckenridge and the surrounding communities will come together to perform “Seeking A King, Finding Grace” the 2023 Community Choir & Orchestra Christmas Cantata, on December 9 at 7pm and December 10 at 2pm at the North Dakota State College of Science Cultural Center in Wahpeton, ND. Admission is free and all are welcome.
The 2023 Cantata features a choir of more than 60 voices accompanied by a full orchestra. Members are residents of Wahpeton, Breckenridge and surrounding communities as well as students from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. Karen Hendrickson, a Wahpeton native, provides the musical foundation at the grand piano. The narration comes to life with readings by Bill Dablow, a local voice and music talent. Kent Loken will direct the performance, bringing all the elements together in spectacular fashion. Loken is a retired K-12 music educator and music administrator. His vigorous directing and heart-felt enthusiasm makes this event one that is as much fun to watch as it is to listen to.
Featuring a Local Composer & His Original Compositions
For the past three years, Loken has commissioned Paul Cravens to compose and arrange songs for the Cantatas. Cravens, a freelance composer from Hastings, MN, performed in past Cantatas when he was a student at Concordia College. He has taken a special interest in writing, arranging and orchestrating several new pieces specifically for this group.
This year, audiences will hear the world premiere of an original, “Seeking A King,” as well as arrangements of “The First Noel” and “Amazing Grace.”
Collecting a Community Offering
A community offering will be taken during the performances with the proceeds benefiting the Richland Wilkin Backpack Program, which provides food weekly for elementary students in need.
Financial support from community entities helps cover Cantata expenses as well as contributes to the overall community offering donations. The Richland Wilkin Community Foundation pledged a grant to help ensure that all of the community offering received goes to the Richland Wilkin Backpack Programs. The Trust Fund Committee from the Breckenridge United Methodist Church announced a matching-funds donation of $2,000 as part of their 2023 community outreach.
“These are such generous gifts!” said Loken. “We are so thankful for support from these organizations as well as for all the memorial gifts received during the year and what people give during the performances. We live in an incredibly caring and impactful community.”
Over the last eight years, the Cantata has raised more than $52,000 for the Richland Wilkin Backpack Program.
For more information, join the 2023 Community Choir & Orchestra Christmas Cantata event on Facebook: www.facebook.com/communitychoirorchestrachristmascantata
“Seeking A King, Finding Grace”
PERFORMANCE DATES: Saturday, December 9 @ 7pm & Sunday, December 10 @ 2pm
LOCATION: NDSCS Cultural Center (811 6th St N, Wahpeton, ND)
ADMISSION: Free! And all are welcome.
About the Community Choir & Orchestra Christmas Cantata
Since making its debut appearance in 1995, the annual Christmas Choir & Orchestra Cantata has become a much-anticipated event for many in the Wahpeton/Breckenridge area. Telling the story so compellingly in song and spoken word, it has brought the real meaning of Christmas to those who most want and need to hear it. With a community choir of 60+, a symphony orchestra of 30+ and well-chosen narration, the story of the birth of Christ comes alive in a powerful, vibrant way. With the 500 seats in the Bremer Bank Theater nearly filled for two performances, the message reaches beyond just those who are there in person. They are compelled to go and tell all what they have seen and heard, bringing the joy they have experienced to those they meet.
Free admission and all are welcome to the December 9 & 10, 2023 performances
Wahpeton, N.D. (11/27/2023) – Residents from Wahpeton, Breckenridge and the surrounding communities will come together to perform “Seeking A King, Finding Grace” the 2023 Community Choir & Orchestra Christmas Cantata, on December 9 at 7pm and December 10 at 2pm at the North Dakota State College of Science Cultural Center in Wahpeton, ND. Admission is free and all are welcome.
The 2023 Cantata features a choir of more than 60 voices accompanied by a full orchestra. Members are residents of Wahpeton, Breckenridge and surrounding communities as well as students from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. Karen Hendrickson, a Wahpeton native, provides the musical foundation at the grand piano. The narration comes to life with readings by Bill Dablow, a local voice and music talent. Kent Loken will direct the performance, bringing all the elements together in spectacular fashion. Loken is a retired K-12 music educator and music administrator. His vigorous directing and heart-felt enthusiasm makes this event one that is as much fun to watch as it is to listen to.
Featuring a Local Composer & His Original Compositions
For the past three years, Loken has commissioned Paul Cravens to compose and arrange songs for the Cantatas. Cravens, a freelance composer from Hastings, MN, performed in past Cantatas when he was a student at Concordia College. He has taken a special interest in writing, arranging and orchestrating several new pieces specifically for this group.
This year, audiences will hear the world premiere of an original, “Seeking A King,” as well as arrangements of “The First Noel” and “Amazing Grace.”
Collecting a Community Offering
A community offering will be taken during the performances with the proceeds benefiting the Richland Wilkin Backpack Program, which provides food weekly for elementary students in need.
Financial support from community entities helps cover Cantata expenses as well as contributes to the overall community offering donations. The Richland Wilkin Community Foundation pledged a grant to help ensure that all of the community offering received goes to the Richland Wilkin Backpack Programs. The Trust Fund Committee from the Breckenridge United Methodist Church announced a matching-funds donation of $2,000 as part of their 2023 community outreach.
“These are such generous gifts!” said Loken. “We are so thankful for support from these organizations as well as for all the memorial gifts received during the year and what people give during the performances. We live in an incredibly caring and impactful community.”
Over the last eight years, the Cantata has raised more than $52,000 for the Richland Wilkin Backpack Program.
For more information, join the 2023 Community Choir & Orchestra Christmas Cantata event on Facebook: www.facebook.com/communitychoirorchestrachristmascantata
“Seeking A King, Finding Grace”
PERFORMANCE DATES: Saturday, December 9 @ 7pm & Sunday, December 10 @ 2pm
LOCATION: NDSCS Cultural Center (811 6th St N, Wahpeton, ND)
ADMISSION: Free! And all are welcome.
About the Community Choir & Orchestra Christmas Cantata
Since making its debut appearance in 1995, the annual Christmas Choir & Orchestra Cantata has become a much-anticipated event for many in the Wahpeton/Breckenridge area. Telling the story so compellingly in song and spoken word, it has brought the real meaning of Christmas to those who most want and need to hear it. With a community choir of 60+, a symphony orchestra of 30+ and well-chosen narration, the story of the birth of Christ comes alive in a powerful, vibrant way. With the 500 seats in the Bremer Bank Theater nearly filled for two performances, the message reaches beyond just those who are there in person. They are compelled to go and tell all what they have seen and heard, bringing the joy they have experienced to those they meet.