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Messiah Project's 2014 Christmas Season Performances

(Photo courtesy Messiah Project Inc.)

Messiah Project presents three holiday-season performances this month. First is "The Miracle of Christmas: Two Shows – One Wonderful Evening," an international Christmas concert and a complete performance of the Christmas opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors," at the Fox Theatre on Park Central Square Tuesday Dec.16 starting at 7:00pm.  Messiah Project is pleased to once again host the Forum Sinfonia chamber orchestra from Krakow, Poland, conducted by Stephen Byess, Music Director of the Arkansas Philharmonic, the North Mississippi Symphony, and Associate Music Director of Ohio Light Opera.  They'll perform a wide variety of music including Polish and international carols and Christmas music.  The Messiah Project Chorus and Dance ensemble will also perform some selections during their portion of the program.  The evening also includes one of the most popular of American operas, Gian Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors."  Ostensibly an "opera for children," it's been enjoyed by audiences of all ages ever since its premiere on NBC television in 1952.  Menotti's opera avoids the banalities of Santa and sugar-plum fairies to tell a moving and moral story about a crippled shepherd boy and his poor widowed mother who are visited by three kings on their way to Bethlehem, bearing gifts for a newborn child, the long-promised Messiah.  The cast includes Jena Cantrell from the Evangel University music faculty as Amahl's mother, and Lily Slater as Amahl.  For more information visit www.messiahproject.org or call 883-5274. Admission will be by voluntary offerings received at the door.

The next night Stephen Byess, will lead the Forum Sinfonia in a "Christmas Around the World" concert that expands on what they'll play at the "Miracle of Christmas" concert.  This second performance is scheduled for Wednesday Dec.17 at 7:30pm at All Saints Anglican Church, 2751 E. Galloway.  Admission will be by voluntary offerings received at the door.

Messiah Project’s Credo Dance Academy will present “Cosmic Christmas,” a dance concert with a unique take: it’s the Christmas story told from the angels’ point of view, including a confrontation between Gabriel and Lucifer. The performance subtitle is “And there was war in the heavens...” so that should give you some idea. It’s an adaptation of Max Lucado’s “An Angel’s Story.” It will presented in two performances at Parkview High School Theatre, 516 W. Meadowmere: Saturday Dec.20 at 7:30pm and Sunday the 21st at 2:30pm. Admission is $15.00 adults, $10 children 12 and under.  For more information call 496-9527 or visit www.credodance.com.

Randy Stewart joined the full-time KSMU staff in June 1978 after working part-time as a student announcer/producer for two years. His job has evolved from Music Director in the early days to encompassing production of a wide range of arts-related programming and features for KSMU, including the online and Friday morning Arts News. Stewart assists volunteer producers John Darkhorse (Route 66 Blues Express), Lee Worman (The Gold Ring), and Emily Higgins (The Mulberry Tree) with the production of their programs. He's also become the de facto "Voice of KSMU" in recent years due to the many hours per day he’s heard doing local station breaks. Stewart’s record of service on behalf of the Springfield arts community earned him the Springfield Regional Arts Council's Ozzie Award in 2006.