To get the WKU community in the holiday spirit, the WKU Music Department is hosting “Holidays on the Hill,” a Christmas concert featuring classics like Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite” and the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah”.

The concert will be held at Van Meter Auditorium on Friday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. featuring the WKU Symphony, WKU Symphonic Band and the Southern Kentucky Choral Society. 

Tickets are $12 per person and can be bought online or at the door.

Gary Schallert, director of bands, said this is a concert to look forward to at WKU. 

“You are going to hear lots of different holiday music with different varieties,” Schallert said. “It’s a feel-good concert that is great for families, so we hope that we get a good crowd.”

The concert will also include a Christmas medley written by Matthew Herman, an assistant professor in the department of music. 

Schallert said he will be conducting this concert along with Brian St. John, the director of orchestra, and Paul Hondorp, the director of choral activities. 

Josiah Kelty, a freshman studying psychology, is a trombone player in the symphonic band and marching band. 

“Christmas music usually isn’t as hard, so for a collegiate band there should just be a couple of rehearsals,” Kelty said. 

The symphonic band received the music for the concert on Nov. 30 and will rehearse for the concert on Dec. 2, Kelty said. 

“We are playing ‘Greensleeves,’ which is a classic. Everyone will recognize the melody,” Kelty said. “We are playing ‘A Christmas Festival,’ which is a medley of eight or nine different Christmas songs, so it’s a lot of fun.”

News reporter Madison Carter can be reached at madison.carter312@ topper.wku.edu.