Tickets for the annual Christmas concert presented by Calimesa Community Concerts went on sale on-line on Nov. 1, according to its Calimesa sponsors. The Gary Bonner Singers and Orchestra will be featured in three performances at the Calimesa Seventh-day Adventist Church on Dec. 15 and 16.
This year’s concert, titled “Christmas Joy,” is a return engagement for the musicians. Dr. Bob Soderblom, director of Calimesa Community Concerts, says the popular Bonner groups have made repeated sell-out appearances in Calimesa over two decades, most recently in 2015.
The concert series is now in its 32nd season. Its annual Christmas concert weekend is known as the Candlelight Festival of Music and Lights.
Once again, this year’s concert will be directed by Dr. Gary Bonner, internationally recognized as a musician and leader in advancing Christian choral music performance.
He was the founding dean of the schools of music first at Azusa Pacific University and later at California Baptist University, where he was honored as the university’s outstanding professor. He retired from CBU in 2012.
Bonner launched the Gary Bonner Singers in 1995. Acclaimed for their “musical versatility, sparkling performance, and warm, vibrant choral tone,” they have completed 21 recordings. The 55-voice ensemble’s most recent album, Legacy Christmas in Concert, is the live recording of a previous Christmas concert elsewhere. A 28-piece orchestra will accompany the singers in all three Calimesa performances.
This year’s concerts are at 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec.15, and again at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19. Reserved-seat tickets at $10, $15, and $20, depending on location, can be ordered on-line at www.iTickets.com or by phone at (800) 965-9324, Soderblom says. Popular credit cards are accepted.
No tickets will be sold at the door.
All three local concert appearances are at the Calimesa Seventh-day Adventist Church, 391 Myrtlewood Dr. (4th and Myrtlewood) in Calimesa. The church is chosen to host the community concerts each Christmas partly because of its long tradition of beautiful lighting and decoration to mark the religious holiday, Soderblom explains.
“Early ticket orders have the best choice of seating at any of the three concerts,” he adds. A dedicated telephone line provides recorded information and directions for the concert at (909) 795-4960.