With the holiday season underway, the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music will be spreading good tidings and joy with the Winter Festival Concert – 40th Anniversary event Dec. 7 and Dec. 8.
Held at the First Congregational Church of Long Beach for the past 40 years, the show will feature over 200 singers and Long Beach State alumnus brass players who are members of the Southern California Brass Consortium.
“It’s just really an exceptionally beautiful building,” Director of Choral Activities and coordinator of the Winter Festival Concert, Jonathan Talberg said. “We have choirs in the balcony, choirs on the floor, choirs in the choir loft, and so you never know exactly where the music is gonna come from.”
The building itself, which is registered under the National Register of Historic Places, features oak beams and floorboards, circular stained glass windows, two floors of seating and a pipe organ at the center of the building.
According to Talberg, the building was selected for its space and size to accommodate the increasing crowd, with previous concerts originally being held at CSULB. This year marks the 40th annual Winter Festival Concert at the church.
“[The First Congressional Church of Long Beach] is such a magical place,” Talberg said regarding the location of the concert. “I think it’ll be there as long as I’m in charge because it’s such a beautiful venue.”
For Talberg, the greatest joy he gets to experience each year is seeing familiar faces.
“Year after year, we get a lot of people to come to this concert and they always tell me that the holiday season doesn’t really start until they go to this concert,” Talberg said. “I would say that if someone’s looking for a way to get away from the traumas and travails of news and politics and the economy, they should come out and enjoy this concert.”
The Winter Festival Concert will be Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available online for $30.