New Classic Singers continues its 28th concert season with Family Christmas Album 28, a joyous musical celebration of the holiday season with a Spanish twist, on Sunday, December 13, at the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.  The 4 p.m. concert will feature guest artists Marguerite Lynn Williams, harp, Steve Ramsdell, guitar, and Kathleen Kastner, marimba.  Founder and Music Director Lee Kesselman will conduct. Long-time accompanist of the NCS, William Buhr, will accompany from the keyboard.

This year's Family Christmas Album is entitled Navidad Nuestra and includes popular and traditional carols from Spain and South America.  The centerpiece of the program will be Conrad Susa’s Carols and Lullabies, a beautiful embodiment of Christmas in the Southwest.

The concert program will include carols spanning almost 500 years, from Europe and the New World. Motets by Victoria and Morales, villancicos, popular Christmas songs, and carols will round out the program. In addition, the Singers will also perform a few of their most popular non-Hispanic carols.

The Family Christmas Album has been a cornerstone of NCS seasons since the inaugural season of the professional choral ensemble in 1982. DuPage audiences have regularly flocked to these concerts for the finest in choral singing and repertoire. Members include solo vocalists, educators, and other fine singers from through the Chicago area. The ensemble is known for its imaginative programs and vocal excellence.

Tickets for Family Christmas Album 28 cost $22 for adults, $20 for seniors or students, and are available from the Arts Center Ticket Office or by phone at 630-942-4000. Special rates are also available for groups.

Guest Artists

Kathleen Kastner teaches percussion, as well as twentieth century music history and world music at the Conservatory of Music at Wheaton College (IL). As Wheaton's first resident percussion teacher, she founded the Percussion Ensemble in the fall of 1972. She received her doctorate from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she studied with Thomas Siwe. Dr. Kastner has been involved in the Percussive Arts Society for many years, having previously served as a member of the Board of Directors, associate editor for research of Percussive Notes, chair of the Scholarly Research Committee, PAS historian, and Illinois State Chapter President.

Chicago based guitarist Steve Ramsdell regularly performs original music as a leader, jazz classics with Spider Saloff, Brazilian music with Chicago Choro and solo classical music.  Some recent highlights include Steve’s Looking For… CD release party at SPACE in Evanston, performances with Spider Saloff at the Iridium in New York and shows with Matt Geraghty at Ondojazz in Lisbon and the Chicago Jazz Fest.  Steve’s musical arrangements can be heard on Spider Saloff’s CD Like Glass while his original compositions appear on his new release Looking For… and his first CD Steve Ramsdell Group.  Holding a masters degree in jazz pedagogy and a bachelors degree in guitar performance from Northwestern University, Steve also teaches at College of Dupage and Wheaton College.

Harpist Marguerite Lynn Williams has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestra member. Recent performances have included collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Renee Fleming, Maxim Vengerov, Jessye Norman, Sting, Kanye West and appearances as royal entertainment for
H.I.H. Princess Thi-Nga of Vietnam. Williams attended the Eastman School of Music where she received both a Bachelor of Music degree and Performer's Certificate. She then attended Roosevelt University where she received a Master's Degree in Orchestral Studies.  Previously on faculty at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami from
2006 until 2008, Ms. Williams maintains a small private harp studio in Chicago.  Along with being a passionate pedagogue, she is an avid arranger of harp music including two volumes of harp ensemble music published by Lyon & Healy.