Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Hendricks Chapel to Ring in the Season With ‘Horns and Harmonies’ Dec. 17

Friday, December 1, 2023, By News Staff
Share
Hendricks Chapel

“Horns and Harmonies” returns to Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel on Sunday, Dec. 17, at 7 p.m. with a festive program of songs, carols and instrumental classics.

Free and open to the public, the concert features the Syracuse University Brass Ensemble (SUBE) and the Spirit of Syracuse (SOS) Chorus, led by artistic director James T. Spencer and co-directors Sky Harris ’06, G’08 and Alicia Caron, respectively.

Both groups are joined by emcee Bruce Paulsen, an on-air host for WCNY Classic-FM and the “Voice of SUBE”; Harmonic Collective, an award-winning men’s a cappella chorus (founded by Harris); and pianist Jon Bergman.

Syracuse University Brass Ensemble

Syracuse University Brass Ensemble

Audience members are invited to donate food and personal care items to the Hendricks Chapel Food Pantry. For more information, contact Hendricks Chapel at chapel@syr.edu or 315.443.2901.

In addition to free, convenient on-street parking, complimentary parking is available in the Irving Avenue Garage and the Quad Lot on North Campus.

“Music is a gift of the holiday season,” says Brian Konkol, dean of Hendricks Chapel and a professor of practice of religion. “The Syracuse University Brass Ensemble and the Spirit of Syracuse Chorus help connect campus and community, truly bringing some much-needed joy to our world.”

Now in its fourth year, “Horns and Harmonies” features individual and joint performances by SUBE and the SOS Chorus. The evening culminates in a group performance of Leroy Anderson’s “A Christmas Festival” and a candlelight singalong of “Silent Night.”

Spirit of Syracuse Chorus

Spirit of Syracuse Chorus

SUBE will present chestnuts like “The 12 Days of Christmas” and “Carol of the Bells” along with film music from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “A Muppet Christmas Carol.” In turn, Associate Director Craig Elwood ’89 will conduct his arrangement of “Joyful, Joyful,” popularized by the Christian rock group GLAD.

“I love the brilliance and beauty of brass music,” says Spencer, a chemistry professor who has conducted, written for and performed with SUBE for more than 35 years. “Combine it with four-part a cappella harmonies in a historic space like Hendricks Chapel and you have a musical gift for the whole family.”

Indeed, the 70-member SOS Chorus covers the creative continuum—from the traditional (“Do You Hear What I Hear?”, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “Sleigh Ride”) to the contemporary (“Warm and Fuzzy,” “Let There Be Peace on Earth” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”).

The singers are particularly excited to perform “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,” for which they’re sharing the stage with some 50 stuffed hippos. Afterward, the handmade toys will be donated to the Elmcrest Children’s Center. “They’re incredibly cute and filled with love,” says Caron, one of many members who lovingly sewed the animals together.

Stuffed hippos

Handmade stuffed hippos that will share the stage with the Spirit of Syracuse Chorus during the chorus’ performance of “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.”

Harris, who also helped, is thrilled to return to her alma mater. “This concert is fast becoming a campus tradition,” says the Syracuse University Bands and Hendricks Chapel Choir alumna. “The sense of connection that occurs onstage and throughout the audience is mesmerizing.”

WCNY Classic-FM will broadcast “Horns and Harmonies” on Saturday, Dec. 23, from 8-10 p.m. WAER also plans to broadcast the concert. Date and time are TBA.

A nationally recognized brass band, SUBE is the University’s ensemble-in-residence. The group has enjoyed a rich relationship with the College of Arts and Sciences and Hendricks Chapel, spanning many concerts, commissions and a 12-year association with Holidays at Hendricks. Last June, the 35-piece ensemble returned to the international stage with a performance at the Gettysburg Brass Band Festival in Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1957, the SOS Chorus is one of the oldest U.S. chapters of Sweet Adelines International (SAI)—a global organization committed to advancing barbershop harmony through education, performance and competition. Next fall, the award-winning chorus travels to Kansas City, Missouri, for the 76th annual SAI International Competition and Convention.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Tiffany Xu Named Harry der Boghosian Fellow for 2025-26
    Friday, June 20, 2025, By Julie Sharkey
  • Registration Open for Esports Campus Takeover Hosted by University and Gen.G
    Thursday, June 19, 2025, By Matt Michael
  • 2 Whitman Students Earn Prestigious AWESOME Scholarship
    Tuesday, June 17, 2025, By News Staff
  • WiSE Hosts the 2025 Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Undergraduate Research Prize Award Ceremony
    Friday, June 13, 2025, By News Staff
  • Inaugural Meredith Professor Faculty Fellows Announced
    Friday, June 13, 2025, By Wendy S. Loughlin

More In Campus & Community

Jorge Morales ’26 Named a 2025 Beinecke Scholar

Jorge Morales ’26, a double major in history and anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs with a minor in English and textual studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the highly competitive…

Registration Open for Esports Campus Takeover Hosted by University and Gen.G

Syracuse University and global esports and gaming organization Gen.G have opened general registration at campustakeover.gg for its first Campus Takeover Sept. 20-21. The two-day conference will bring students and administrators to Syracuse to highlight career opportunities within the esports industry…

2 Whitman Students Earn Prestigious AWESOME Scholarship

For the first time in the 12-year history of the program, both nominees from the Whitman School of Management have been selected as recipients of the 2025 AWESOME Excellence in Education Scholarship, a prestigious honor awarded to top-performing undergraduate women…

Whitman’s Johan Wiklund Named a Top Scholar Globally for Business Research Publications

The Whitman School of Management’s Distinguished Professor Johan Wiklund was recently listed as one of the most prolific business and economic research scholars globally, according to “What We Know About the Science of Science in Business and Economics? Insights From…

Katsitsatekanoniahkwa Destiny Lazore ’26 Receives Prestigious Udall Scholarship

Katsitsatekanoniahkwa Destiny Lazore, a rising senior communication and rhetorical studies major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and political science major in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and College of Arts and Sciences (with a…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.