Hey, Detroiters! Welcome back to Culture Canvas.
With Christmas only two weeks away, here’s an upcoming event that can help get you in the holiday spirit!
Ensemble Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings (DCWS) is hosting its annual Holiday Brass concert 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Matthew’s & St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church. The concert, in one of the city’s oldest churches, will feature favorites like “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” the overture to “The Nutcracker,” and “For unto us a Child is Born” from Handel’s Messiah.
DCWS was founded in 1982 and brings together some of the top musicians from Metro Detroit, primarily from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Michigan Opera Theatre. The ensemble performs chamber music, a form of classical music composed for a small group of instruments.
This weekend’s performance will feature 12 brass instrument and percussion players, along with the choir of Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School. The concert will be conducted by Scott Boerma, director of bands and professor of music at Western Michigan University. I talked to Boerma about the holiday concerts he’s been conducting for about two decades and what’s in store for Saturday’s performance.
BridgeDetroit: What’s one of your favorite things about being a part of this organization?
Boerma: The opportunity to interact and make music with such incredible musicians. The people that are hired to play are just outstanding players in Michigan, and to be able to work with them and to collaborate has been a real honor. And, it’s very festive. It’s just something that every year gets me and everybody around us in the holiday spirit.
BridgeDetroit: How do you decide which songs will be played each year?
Boerma: The leader of the organization, Maury Okun, actually chooses the repertoire every year. The specific ensemble that we use, there are a limited number of pieces available. It’s not like a symphony orchestra that has hundreds of years of repertoire written for it, so we have a finite pool of pieces that are written for our particular ensemble size. And so, we just work on discovering new arrangements each year and recycle some of the things we’ve done in the past. It’s all about variety, making sure that every selection has a unique twist on holiday pieces. There’s some very standard, traditional pieces that we’ll play. Things from the Messiah, things from the Baroque era and also brand new arrangements of holiday favorites.
We also close the concert with an arrangement of mine called “Joy,” and it incorporates several tunes that have the word “joy” in them. We have “Joy to the World,” Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, and the “Joyful, Joyful” tune from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. And that’s the big climax of the concert, the joined forces of the choir and the brass and percussion.
BridgeDetroit: What are some of the differences between working with students at Western and the ensemble at DCWS?
Boerma: My role at Western is director of bands and I conduct our top wind ensemble called The Wind Symphony. They’re the finest musicians in our university (with a few graduate students) and the quality of music making is very high, but they are young people studying to become professionals. The Detroit Chamber Winds musicians are the highest level of professionals. So, it’s different people at different stages of their musical careers. The Wind Symphony at Western is all very serious classical music and with the Detroit Chamber Winds, I get to conduct a little bit more lighter fare for the holiday season.
BridgeDetroit: What do you hope the audience takes takes away from the concert on Saturday?
Boerma: It’s just so festive, and at this time of year, I just hope that everybody leaves feeling positive and happy and looking forward to the holiday season ahead.
General admission for the show is $30, while tickets for seniors and students are $25 and $15, respectively.
As always, have a great week!
Cheers,
Micah
313 Scene
- Check out the BridgeDetroit and Detroit PBS segment on Detroit artists DJ Minx and DJ Holographic. The artists sat down with me to talk about how their friendship began, musical influences, and the excitement of playing on the Movement stage.
- BridgeDetroit reporter Jena Brooker reports on filmmaker Tom E. Brown, who recently moved from California to the D. During a recent screening of his 2016 film “Pushing Dead” at the Senate Theater, he announced plans to film a sequel in Detroit and renewed the push for Michigan film incentives.
- Detroit native and former rapper Matashia Dykes has a new venture–burger spot Just Smash It, in Warren. (Detroit Metro Times)
- To promote the release of his surprise album, “GNX,” Kendrick Lamar is going on the “Grand National Tour” next year with R&B singer SZA. The two will make a stop at Ford Field June 10. Tickets start at $187 on Ticketmaster.
What’s Going on in the D?
- One of the world’s most popular musicals, Les Miserables started its run at the Fisher Theatre last week and runs until Sunday. Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, the play tells the story of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict who builds a new life for himself and his adopted daughter Cosette. Tickets start at $71.
- The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is hosting its annual Christmas event, Home for the Holidays at Orchestra Hall, with six performances Friday through Sunday. The orchestra and special guests will play a selection of holiday favorites. Tickets are still available, starting at $29.
- The Redford Theatre is showing screenings of the 1954 classic, “White Christmas” Friday and Saturday. The film follows a successful song-and-dance team (Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye) who become romantically involved with a sister act (Vera Ellen, Rosemary Clooney) and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general. Tickets are $7.
- Meanwhile, the Senate Theater is showing a screening of another holiday classic, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” 8 p.m. Saturday. Written and produced by one-time Michigan resident John Hughes, the third installment in the saga of the Griswold family finds high-strung dad Clark (Chevy Chase) in the midst of his bickering extended family as he attempts to create the perfect family Christmas. Tickets are $6.
- The Historic Boston-Edison Association is hosting its 50th annual Holiday Home Tour Saturday and Sunday. Tours begin and end at Sacred Heart Seminary, 2701 Chicago Blvd. Attendees will ride through the picturesque streets on a guided bus, seeing historic homes like Victorian houses and grand mansions showcasing holiday-themed designs. There are still some tickets available on Eventbrite for $50.
