The Online Reflector

The University of Indianapolis Department of Music hosted its annual Christmas concert, “A Soulful Celebration of the Christmas Season,” on Dec. 3 in the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center.

Eight students from the Voices of Worship class performed classic holiday songs, including “Joy to the World” and other popular Christmas tunes.

The concert began at 7:30 p.m. with the band playing soulful jazz music. This opening set the tone for the concert.

The stage and the performance hall were filled with Christmas decorations. The performers also were dressed according to the Christmas theme. The audience was invited to sing along with songs such as “God Is Great” and “Silent Night.”

Geoffrey Kelsaw, faculty adjunct in the music department and director of the Christmas concert, explained his rationale for the songs featured in the concert.

“Since this is more of a soulful style performance, I wanted that [soulful] flavor and a lot of students like this kind of music,” Kelsaw said. “We are considered a gospel choir. That’s why I chose those songs.”

The concert opened with a group performance of “Nobody Greater.”  The vocal performance was accompanied by three dancers. The dancers gave the audience a visual interpretation of the music. That piece was followed  by “Our Father, You Are Holy.”

Kelsaw, who was very involved with the music, led and directed the group of students, but he also performed with the group.

Dancers were a new addition to this year’s Christmas concert performance.

“I decided to do this as an icebreaker for them [the students] because next semester we are doing a big production,” Kelsaw said. “I just want to incorporate dancers and other things this semester and it [the dancers’ performances] will carry over [to] next semester.”

The search for dancers for this year’s Christmas concert began during Welcome Week. Kelsaw inquired about prospective student dancers’ talents and areas of interest.

Kelsaw said the purpose of adding dancers to the show was to expand the group and to give other people something else, that they are good at, to do.

One of the students who performed in the Christmas concert was  junior elementary education major Jessica Johnson.

“I love singing. It’s like a lifelong passion, but it’s not like a job for me,” Johnson said. “I want to try to incorporate music into my classroom when I become a teacher.”

According to Kelsaw, the majority of the performers this year were new to the Voices of Worship group, which consisted of both music majors and non-music majors.

“I have been singing since I was really, really little. Probably my first major experience was at church gospel choir,” Johnson said. “I was a member of the Indianapolis Children’s Choir for ten years and that was a huge influence on my life.”

Some challenges arose during the planning stages of the concert.

“This semester we were able to recruit a lot of people, but some had to drop out because of their time commitment,” Kelsaw said.

Although some students had previous performance experience in music, Johnson said that preparing for the concert was still difficult.

“It can be really challenging,” she said. “Our director, Mr. Kelsaw, wants you to be the best that you can be. You are expected to study your music and know your part. It’s tons and tons of work, but it all pays off in the concert.”

Kelsaw explained that he had adopted a nontraditional interpretation of the Christmas classic “Silent Night,” from the movie “The Preacher’s Wife,” and gave the song a modern, soulful feel.

The concert ended with a standing ovation for the Christmas classic “Joy to the World.”

Johnson was pleased with the outcome.

“I love it. It’s so much fun,” she said. “All the kids I sing with are all close friends, and I think that shows through in our performances.”