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North Iowa Area Community College and First State Bank of Belmond are honored to present Candlelight Christmas Festival. Candlelight Christmas Festival will take the North Iowa Community Auditorium stage on Thursday, December 4 and Friday, December 5 at 7:30 p.m. as a part of the 2008-2009 NIACC Performing Arts Series. Tickets are on sale now and cost $18 in advance and $22 at the door.

Come celebrate the return of Candlelight Christmas Festival as the NIACC Concert Choir, NIACC Singers, North Iowa Choral Society and River City Barbershop Chorus join forces once again in a program that features the secular and sacred stories of Christmas.

One highlight of the concert will be a reprise of “The Angels Said,” a piece composed for the Candlelight Christmas Festival event two years ago by William Backlin, NIACC evening dean and music theory instructor.

“The piece garnered such a positive reaction that we felt it necessary to play it again.  The singers loved the work, the audience loved the work.  We just felt it embodies so much of what the event is about that we wanted to feature ‘The Angels Said’ again,” Jayson Ryner, the Candlelight Christmas Festival’s director and co-creator, said.

This year Ryner will share the podium with Rick and Melodie Chitty, new directors of the North Iowa Choral Society.

The River City Chorus also continues to be an integral part of the concert.  “It’s a feeling of excitement and accomplishment being able to sing with two other groups of such high caliber.  The other groups sing in a different style than we do most of our year, and then we get to bring our Barbershop style to the concert as well.  There is also a pride in presenting a show of this caliber with local talent worthy of being included in the Performing Arts Series,” Carlyle Merritt, River City Chorus president, said. 

This year’s Candlelight Christmas Festival will feel much like previous concerts with some new twists thrown in.  “The beauty of this concert is the number of singers that we have on the stage.  We are working to add new dimensions by expanding the NIACC Singers portion and adding more selections by the NIACC Vocal Jazz Ensemble,” Ryner said.  “The audience will participate with a new flare.  The audience can expect a sensational moment at the end of the event this year.” 

Music for the event will include traditional Christmas favorites including “Silent Night,” “Children Go Where I Send Thee,” “Santa Clause is Coming to Town” and other familiar tunes.  There will also be powerful and meaningful selections such as “Hear the Lamb A-Cryin’,” “Birthday of A King” and “Master’s in the Hall.” 

For tickets to Candlelight Christmas Festival, call the NIACC Box Office at 1-888-466-4222, ext. 4188.  Tickets may also be purchased online at www.niacc.edu.  Platinum sponsors for the 2008-2009 series include NIACC, Globe Gazette Elizabeth Muse Norris Charitable Fund; the Globe Gazette; Alliant Energy; Community National Bank; Henkel Construction; and Principal Financial Group.  Gold sponsors include Diamond Jo Casino; First Citizens National Bank; First State Bank of Belmond; Kraft; Mercy Medical Center – North Iowa; Martin, Cooney, MacNider & Cooney, Financial Consultants of Raymond James and Associates, Inc.; Dr. Gary W. Swenson and Dean A. Genth; and Sukup Manufacturing.  In kind sponsors include Country Inn and Suites; KIMT; and Pepsi.

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