The annual Christmas Cantata at Cambridge Lutheran Church will be presented Sunday, Dec. 20, 8:50 a.m. in the sanctuary. The public is welcome to join and no tickets are necessary.
The Cantata is performed in the tradition of the beloved Christmas Festivals performed at many colleges in the upper midwest each December. These festivals of Christmas always provide a fresh and moving experience of the familiar story of the birth of the child in the manger in Bethlehem.
“Let There Be Christmas” is the title of this year’s cantata, including original works by composer Joseph Martin. Aaron Knudsvig, Mary Kay O’Neill and Shirley Geib will direct the choirs performing during the cantata. Narrator, soloists, instrumentalists, and pianists Michelle Trunk, Elaine Johnson, and Mary Kay O’Neill will accompany the choirs.
The event is part performance, part worship service. In addition to the anthems performed, prayer, scripture and the singing of familiar Christmas hymns are part of the experience.
Anchoring the cantata is the Sanctuary Choir which includes alumni of some of the great Lutheran college choirs of the upper midwest such as Gustavus, St. Olaf, Luther and Concordia College.
Knudsvig, director of the Sanctuary Choir, studied under Rene Clausen, director of the Concordia College Choir. Knudsvig is president of Play, Inc., the local community theater group. He teaches in the Cambridge school district. Last year, O’Neill celebrated the 25-year anniversary of the Celestial Bells who will perform during the event. Geib directs two area choirs and Trunk has served congregations in Princeton and North Branch in addition to Cambridge.
The Sanctuary is the traditional worship space at Cambridge Lutheran. Guests are invited to enter from the south end of the building on the granite steps. The elevator is available at the glass doors nearest the church office.