Home for the Holidays concert requires advance planning, unique preparation

Almost as soon as the last notes are played at Purdue University Fort Wayne’s annual “Home for the Holidays” concert, planning for the following year’s production begins as conductors Kevin McMahon and William Sauerland start thinking ahead.

The impressive the two-hour extravaganza requires an extra degree of effort to maintain the expected high standard.

“There’s a lot of hard work involved and stress in wanting to have a performance at a certain level,” said McMahon, assistant professor of music and the orchestra conductor. “I think both of us have the goal of wanting our students and the audience to have a really great time, and you can’t do that if you’re not having a really great time, too.”

This year’s concert will be held Monday at Auer Performance Hall, starting at 7:30 p.m. The general admission tickets cost $9.50. Discounted rates of $8.50 for seniors and $6.50 for students from other universities are also offered. Admission is free for PFW students with ID and anyone under age 18.

The concert will be recorded and broadcast Dec. 13 from 6 to 8 p.m., and Dec. 24 from 7 to 9 p.m., on WBOI 89.1 FM. Unlike previous years, the concert will not air on PBS Fort Wayne.

The lineup features the University and Community Orchestra, University Jazz Band, Chamber Treble Singers, Choral Union, University Singers, and a variety of student chamber ensembles performing timeless holiday tunes.

This year there will be approximately 225 performers on stage, not to mention everyone in the hall for the closing holiday medley.

A unique feature of the popular event is the full complement of performers only practices together twice. That truly puts their talent and skill into perspective.

“I am very proud of them,” said Sauerland, associate professor of music and director of choral studies.  “I think the work they do is very stellar.”

There’s a lot of effort needed to make the performance feel, well, effortless. Rehearsals start in conjunction with other events. The orchestra was practicing Christmas numbers at the same time it was preparing for the recent Halloween “Haunting Harmonies” concert. The choirs also prepped for this show before presenting their annual fall concert on Oct. 13. The extra work can be critical depending on how challenging the music is for certain selections.

“I think this is an extraordinary experience for all the musicians, whether community or student musicians, to sort of figure out how to do it in a very limited time,” Sauerland said.

One advantage is that Sauerland and McMahon are good friends who have tremendous respect for each other. That camaraderie helps because they trust each other.

“There’s a lot of buy-in with each other,” McMahon said. “We’ve done this before and trust each other’s expertise and knowledge. You couldn’t put this much into it if it was somebody you didn’t have the respect and care for. It just wouldn’t work, right, but it’s actually a lot of fun, and that’s kind of what the whole production is supposed to be about.”