ARS NOVA AND PETIT ARS OFFER TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CONCERT

The ARS NOVA polyphonic choir and its children’s group PETIT ARS will be offering their traditional Christmas Concert “Carols and Lullabies” this Sunday 17th December at 11.00pm in the church of the Convento de las Agustinas de Xàbia, a performance that will also raise money to fund the running expenses of the convent facilities.

The main choir will be singing a great piece entitled “Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest” written by the American composer Conrad Susa in 1992. It consists of a suite of 10 movements based on Christmas songs and lullabies from different areas of the Iberian Peninsula and South America, written in Spanish and Catalan, in which the composer lets himself go playing with rhythms and harmonies whilst also achieving the peculiar sound of the instruments that he uses. The choir will be accompanied by Darío González on guitar, Miriam Llerena on marimba and vibraphone, and pianist Sílvia Ferrer.

The children of PETIT ARS will also performing some solo pieces – “La Estrella” · “Nadal al Cel” · “Mi Burrito Sabanero” – before both groups come together to perform an arrangement by Mack Wilberg of Adolphe Adam’s “Oh Holy Night” from ‘The Virgin Mary had a Baby Boy’ which will also feature pianists Sílvia Ferrer and Pablo Marín, and “Carol of the Bells”, the legendary Ukrainian Christmas carol.

The concert will be conducted by maestro Rubén Penades and there will be a 3 euro admission charge which will be donated towards the running costs of the convent.