A Frosty-Free Christmas

You gotta have music at Christmas, because it ain’t Christmas without it. But you, like most everyone else, have already decided that you might explode if you hear even one more rendition of “Frosty the Snowman,” anywhere, anytime, anyhow. Relax. There are holiday music programs for every taste this time of year, but if you’re described above, we recommend Air: Christmas With Ars Nova, the sophisticated and eclectic annual concert by one of the premier ensembles in Boulder and, for that matter, on the entire Front Range.

“We strive for the unconventional,” notes executive director John Wilkens. “What puts us in a different category is the way we try to convey a sense of the season, but without any triteness.” So from the moment the choir files into the concert hall, chanting in the transcendent polyphony of medieval times, through a thoughtful repertoire of old and modern compositions, to the program-ending dusting of traditional carols, you’ll be thoroughly entertained.

Ars Nova performs tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Bethany Lutheran Church, 4500 East Hampden Avenue in Cherry Hills Village; and again tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at St. John's Episcopal Church, 1419 Pine Street in Boulder; for tickets, $5 to $20, log on to www.arsnovasingers.org or call 303-499-3165.
Thu., Dec. 18, 7:30 p.m., 2008