Illuminations of Julian of Norwich - Lycoming College Women's Chamber Ensemble - 2019 Candlelight

The 2019-2020 Lycoming College Women's Chamber Ensemble performs "Illuminations of Julian of Norwich" during the Christmas Candlelight Service at Lycoming College on December 8, 2019. For more on the choir, visit http://www.lycochoir.com.

"Illuminations of Julian of Norwich" was composed by Dr. Daniel Hall, the choir's director.

The Christmas Candlelight Service, or Festival of Lessons and Carols, is held annually at Clarke Chapel on the Lycoming College campus. Performances by the choir and hymns sung by the congregation are interspersed with nine lessons summarizing key points from the Bible as well as opening and closing prayers. The Festival of Lessons and Carols dates to England in the late nineteenth century, and one of the most well-known services has been held at King's College in Cambridge every year since 1923.

The Lycoming College Choir is the largest of three choral groups at Lycoming College, a historically Methodist four-year private college in Wiilliamsport, Pennsylvania. It is the college's "full choir" and supplies music for every major school event on campus. It is open to students from all academic fields and to every student who loves to sing.

The choir's repertoire consists of both sacred and secular music ranging from classical standards to new works by contemporary composers, as well as folk, world music, and modern styles.

In its seven decades, the Lycoming College Choir has performed hundreds of concerts including appearances at the National Cathedral, the Washington Shrine, the Crystal Cathedral, Coral Ridge, and New York City's St. John the Divine and St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Choir also gives frequent performances during Sunday services at Williamsport-area churches, including First United Methodist, Pine Street United Methodist, St. Mark's Lutheran, and St. John's United Methodist. In addition, the Choir often hosts and performs with visiting college choirs, such as various friendship choirs from Europe, and with local orchestras.

Approximately 40 students are chosen annually from the Lycoming College Choir to perform with the Tour Choir, which has a long history of quality performances throughout the United States and the world. Since its inception in 1947 by Walter McIver, the Lycoming College Tour Choir has presented concerts in every state east of the Mississippi River, Texas, California, Canada, Puerto Rico, Argentina, China, and throughout Europe. The choir tours nationally each year and internationally every three years. Most recently, in May 2020, the Tour Choir's new "Choral Scholars" program, which combines a semester of language, art, and music classes with rehearsals, traveled to France for two weeks of performances and sightseeing.

Lycoming's third and smallest choral ensemble is the Chamber Choir, which performs a diverse repertoire ranging from vocal jazz to major works. The Chamber Choir has been featured twice in the Holiday Celebrations at the White House, and the ensemble has sung with the Gregg Smith Singers, the Chieftains, and Barry Manilow.

Lycoming College is an independent coeducational college of 1,400 students enrolled in 36 majors. The College is ranked by U.S. News and World Report as a national liberal arts college. Located in Williamsport, PA, the college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.