Seasonal music fills CBU Christmas chapel service

Riverside, Calif. (Dec. 9, 2016) – Chapel was filled with Christmas cheer at California Baptist University on Dec. 9 as musicians from the Collinsworth School of Music performed a mix of seasonal music.

As students arrived for chapel, the CBU Jazz Band, conducted by Dr. Guy Holliday, livened things up by performing a variety of holiday-themed selections, such as “Go Tell It on the Mountain” and “Winter Wonderland.”

The Women’s Choir, New Song, Male Chorale the Concert Band and the University Choir and Orchestra (UCO) also performed during the service. The musicians brought joy and cheer to the occasion, presenting songs such as “Majesty in a Manger,” “The Cradle That Rocked the World,” “Comfort and Joy” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (King of Heaven).”

Holliday, who said that Christmas is a time of traditions, conducted the Concert Band as Dr. Joseph Bolin, dean of the School of Music, led one chapel tradition by reading “The Night Before Christmas.”

Before the UCO performed “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” Dr. Judd Bonner, associate professor of music, described how music can reflect the human experience.

“This song addresses that fact that while we are all celebrating, there are individuals here and out there who are hurting,” Bonner said. “This song says, keep declaring the truth, keep declaring the gospel and the power of the gospel and it will permeate that sadness and that sorrow.”

The University Choir and Orchestra will perform on Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside. Tickets are $20. To purchase tickets contact the School of Music 951-343-4251.