‘Cuse Conversations Episode 125: Peppie Calvar Discusses Holidays at Hendricks, Spreading the Light of Music Around the World

Original air date: Nov. 22, 2022 For more than a decade, hundreds of talented students in the Setnor School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts entertain the Syracuse University community each December with live musical performances during Holidays at Hendricks. Jose “Peppie” Calvar is director of the Hendricks Chapel Choir and artistic director of Holidays at Hendricks, and he spends 18 months organizing each year’s concert celebrations, which features two in-person concerts on Dec. 4 and a virtual concert performance on Dec. 11. Calvar stops by to discuss Holidays at Hendricks and what the student-led concerts mean to the University community, why Holidays at Hendricks is such a special celebration and what people can expect from this year’s performances. Calvar also shares the challenges of producing the first virtual Holidays at Hendricks during the COVID-19 pandemic, how he went from being an engineering student to pursuing a career in music and his passion for spreading choral music around the world through a series of international residencies.