Q&A with William Bullock on the why behind Cantus Christmas

For nearly two decades, Cantus Columbus has performed its annual Christmas concert under the direction of William Bullock. The choir is comprised of professional and community singers — many of whom have been with the ensemble since its inception.

Cantus Christmas has become a tradition for many local families, and many years the concert has sold out completely. Audience members can expect a program of serious classical music with complex harmonies and instrumentation throughout. This is not a sing-a-long featuring pop renditions of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” although historically the concerts have consisted of audience carols.

Sunday Arts reporter Carrie Beth Wallace recently corresponded with Cantus Columbus’ director William Bullock to discuss the upcoming concert, what audience members can expect from the experience, and what Bullock hopes Cantus Christmas offers the community each year.

Q: What is the theme this year?

A: As always, the concert will recount the Christmas story with musical master works and audience carols, without intermission and without narration.

Q: How will the repertoire walk the listener through this theme?

A: The concert covers the Christmas story in four main sections: Prophecy & Preparation, Birth & Infancy, Epiphany & Adoration, and Departure & Aspiration.

The subject of each section is introduced this year with an arrangement of a traditional carol, one each from Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain. Each section concludes with an audience carol, this year “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Joy to the World.”

Between the introductory and concluding carols, each section tells its story with a variety of music across history. This year’s repertoire covers music from 1631 to 2015, and hails from Russia, Austria, the USA, Germany, England, France and Azerbaijan.

Q: Why are audience carols a favorite tradition of yours?

A: This year they will be supported with the Jordan Organ in Legacy Hall, played by organist Aesook Moon of the Schwob School of Music.

The audience carols are an important part of the program format because they not only allow the audience a chance to reflect on the significance of the portion of the Christmas story they have just heard, but they also afford the audience the opportunity to stand up and participate in the storytelling themselves.

Q: Are there any major changes this year to the ensemble?

A: This year the concert will feature Vega Quartet, a professional string quartet from Atlanta. The quartet has collaborated with Cantus Columbus before, to great acclaim.

In addition to playing with the chorus and accompanying the audience carols, the quartet will present four works by itself: a mystic portrayal of the Visitation following the Annunciation, a lullaby by George Gershwin, a march for the Three Kings by a rarely performed early twentieth-century American composer, and a fabulously difficult depiction of the Holy Family’s fast and furious escape from Herod’s murderous men.

Q: What are you looking forward to most about this year’s concert?

A: I always hope the variety of music on the concert will prompt listeners to reflect anew on the true meaning of the season for society.

I hope that the music and the detailed program notes provided will focus attention on the significance of the message that is being conveyed, hopefully artistically, and that at the same time everyone will be both entertained and enlightened.

This story was originally published December 10, 2017 at 1:18 AM with the headline "Q&A with William Bullock on the why behind Cantus Christmas."