Dec. 2 recital celebrates Night of the Child
Release Date: 11/25/2002. Expired: 12/2/2002
As part of its Recitals in the Rotunda series, The Renaissance Center invites the public to open the Advent season with The Night of the Child, a concert event featuring acclaimed author Robert Benson and virtuoso harpist Carol McClure.
The free 7 p.m. concert will be in the rotunda of the center at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson.
The evening’s unique performance will feature Benson reading excerpts from his book “The Night of the Child,” accompanied by harpist McClure. Benson’s book was inspired by the nativity collection at The Upper Room Museum in Nashville. Drawing on images of the museum’s collection of more than 100 nativity scenes from 30 cultures, Benson eloquently reminds us of the simple majesty of the birth of Christ; while McClure, through her gently fresh, yet hauntingly familiar melodies, evokes memories of Christmases past and hope for Christmases yet to come.
“The joy of Christmas just won’t land on you,” Benson explains concerning the purpose of the book and concert. “You must do something to prepare your hearts for it.”
McClure agrees, “The audience will experience a wonderful introduction to the Advent season. It will be an opportunity to journey back to their own Christmases past and to look forward to this particular Advent.”
Be forewarned; this evening is not filled with mistletoe and Jingle Bells. “The music doesn’t necessarily sound pleasant,” says McClure. “There are places where the words have dark reflections. Robert talks about people who are missing from this Christmas Eve for reasons that are not necessarily pleasant or easy. The music has to reflect that kind of darkness; because it is only in reflecting on that darkness that the true joy of Advent can come out.”
“Yes,” says Benson, “it is a part of the story. The darkness and the waiting for the Night of the Child are as important as the celebration of the Night of the Child.
“However, the thing that generally happens - what I hope happens - is that people remember their own stories of Christmas past. I’ve seen it on their faces; they’re listening to us and then their eyes glaze over. It’s not because they are bored; it’s because they have - in a way - started to remember forward; about the crowd of people they’re going to gather with, about the things they do to celebrate Christmas. They have started to connect with their own hopes and dreams, their own expectations about the coming of the Light.”
The intimate, meditative one-hour presentation is slated for 7 p.m. Dec. 2 at The Renaissance Center, 855 Highway 46 South, in Dickson. The concert is free and open to the public. McClure and Benson also invite the audience to come earlier and bring their nativity set or favorite Christmas decoration to help decorate the stage for the evening.
Both the book and the CD will be available for purchase after the concert, and McClure and Benson will be available for autographs. For more information call 740-5545. The Renaissance Center is an arts and technology education and performing arts center at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 minutes west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172.
Visit the Events - Concerts and Recitals page for more about musical performances.
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