The Wayne State College choirs will be performing holiday concerts for both students and the public at Our Savior Lutheran Church and the Beaumont Event and Concert Hall. 

The WSC choirs are having their annual holiday concerts to celebrate the holiday season. The choir will be directed by Matthew Armstrong and will feature their concert choir, chamber choir, tenor/bass choir known as Fortis and treble choir known as Lyrica. 

A wide variety of music will be performed at these concerts.  

“There is a mix including secular and sacred, holiday and not specifically holiday, English, Latin, German and Hebrew languages,” Armstrong said. “During the holidays, we have the liberty to sing in so many styles and the community is so good about supporting students.”  

Some arrangements selected include a barbershop arrangement of “Jingle Bells,” a Hebrew folk song called “Torah Orah” and a jazz arrangement of “It’s the Most Wonderful time of the Year.”  

“Armstrong does a great job in picking a variety of songs so that way the audience doesn’t lose interest,” Christopher Woerdemann, a choir member, said. 

The choir is coming off a performance at the Nebraska All-State Convention and has been performing regularly.  

“This has been a busy semester with more choral performances than any semester since I’ve been at WSC,” Armstrong said. “I’m grateful to the students for their hard work and to the college and community for supporting the choirs. Choirs love to sing for an engaged audience and WSC does a great job of balancing the educational and performance aspects of our concerts.” 

“It’s great to know I’m part of something special,” Woerdemann said. “At Wayne State, the choir program really is like a hidden nugget that most people don’t recognize is happening and so when I’m up there I know that I’m creating this gorgeous sound, but it’s not just me, I’m part of an ensemble that’s creating something that’s very pleasing to listen to. And after the song’s finished you look out and you see all the smiles in the crowd. It’s very rewarding, like all of the months of hard work that go into a concert, or even just preparing music, it’s rewarding to see that the hard work does pay off in the end.” 

The two holiday concerts will be held at the Our Savior Lutheran Church on Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. and at he Beaumont on Dec. 4 at 5 p.m.