Tickets for the Christmas concerts presented annually by Calimesa Community Concerts are now for sale online, according to the sponsors. The Gary Bonner Singers and Orchestra will be featured in performances at the Calimesa Seventh-day Adventist Church on Dec. 20 and 21.
This year’s concerts -- titled “Noel!” -- are a return engagement for the musicians. Dr. Bob Soderblom, director of the community concert series, says the popular Bonner groups have made repeated sell-out appearances in Calimesa over two decades, most recently in 2017.
The concert series is now in its 33rd season. Its annual Christmas concert weekend is known as the Candlelight Festival of Music and Lights.
Once again, this year’s concerts 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 in Riverside, 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 ensemble’s most recent album, "Legacy Christmas in Concert," is the live recording of a previous Christmas concert.
Some 80 singers and orchestra musicians will be combined in each of this year’s Calimesa performances. The concerts are at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20, and earlier at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21. Reserved-seat tickets at $20, $15, $10, and $5, 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, and no tickets will be sold at the door.
Light refreshments and an opportunity to visit with the musicians and other concertgoers are scheduled to follow both concert performances in the church’s fellowship hall.
The Calimesa church hosting the concert appearances is at 391 Myrtlewood Dr. (4th and Myrtlewood) in Calimesa. The church is chosen to host the community concerts each Christmas season partly in recognition of its long tradition of beautiful lighting and decoration to mark the religious holiday, Soderblom explains.
“Early ticket orders have the best choice of the limited seating at either concert,” he adds. A dedicated telephone line provides free recorded information and directions for the two sacred concerts at (909) 795-4960.