Every December, the nine gentlemen of Cantus invite a 10th guy to the stage to share a little Christmas. I get to be that guy. No, they don't let me sing with them (smart move), but I do get to interview them, make fun of their beards, have them return the favor, and in general be awed when they sing.
We broadcast it live before 300 or so in the Great Hall of Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis. The walls were hung with garland, the guys looked fabulous in their black suits and brilliant red ties. And, there was pin-drop silence when they began to sing.
Hour 1
- March of the Kings
13th-century Provencal Melody, arr. Alice Parker and Robert Shaw - From Far Away We Come
from Amahl and the Night Visitors, Gian Carlo Menotti - Gaudete
from Piae Cantiones, arr. Robert J. Batastini - We Three Kings
Healey Willan, arr. Joseph Running - Star in the East
from Southern Harmony, William Walker - Coventry Carol
15th Century English Carol, arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Shepherds, Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep
17th Century Besancon Carol, arr. Robert Scholz - Gabriel's Message
19th-century Basque Carol, arr. John Rutter - Christmas Angel
Corlynn Hanney - Ave Maria
Leos Janacek - Ave Maria
Franz Biebl
Hour 2
- Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow
African-American Spiritual, arr. Michael S. Engelhardt - How Far is it to Bethlehem
Geoffrey Shaw - O Little Town of Bethlehem
Kenneth Jennings - O Magnum Mysterium
Jacobus Handl (Gallus) - The Friendly Beasts
Traditional English Carol, arr. David Walton - O Babe, Born Bare
John Duggan - Hail Mary!
William L. Dawson - Go Where I Send Thee
African-American Spiritual, arr. Stephen Hatfield - Pat-A-Drummer
Burgundian Air / Katherine K. Davis, arr. Katherine K. Davis / Gary Ruschman / Chris Foss