LEXINGTON, Ky.—Renowned women’s quartet Anonymous 4 will perform “Noel: Four Centuries of Christmas” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8, in Transylvania’s Haggin Auditorium as part of the Dorothy J. and Fred K. Smith Endowed Concert Series. For two decades, Anonymous 4 has delighted audiences with their mesmerizing a capella versions of medieval music and poetic performances.
This spectacular holiday concert experience combines the most popular carols and hymns, the most moving motets and chants from the group’s medieval Christmas programs: “On Yoolis Night,” “Christmas Music From Medieval Hungary: Legends of St. Nicholas,” “Wolcum Yule” and “The Cherry Tree: Songs, Carols and Ballads for Christmas.”
Anonymous 4 has performed on radio and television, and their albums have sold almost 1.5 million copies and topped the Billboard classical charts. Their most recent album, “Four Centuries of Chant,” is their 21st record and was released in September 2009. It mixes medieval chant with more traditional polyphonic music. Where most groups adapt chants into melodies and sing them, Anonymous 4 decided to restore and perform them.
Free tickets, while they last, are available at Transylvania’s William T. Young Campus Center (corner of Broadway and Fourth Street) Monday-Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Friday from 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday from noon-8 p.m. and Sunday from 1-10:30 p.m. For more information, contact the public relations office at (859) 233-8120 or the fine arts office at (859) 233-8141.
This is the fourth concert in the Smith Concert Series, which was created in 2007 by Dorothy J. Smith, a 1942 Transylvania graduate, to bring high quality musical performances to Transylvania’s campus. The series is named for Smith and her late husband, Fred K. Smith, a 1940 Transylvania graduate.