A local mainstay and the region’s premiere choral ensemble, Wichita (Kan.) Chamber Chorale, will perform its annual Christmas program as part of the Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts season lineup at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 5, on the Hesston College campus in the Hesston Mennonite Church Sanctuary.

The professionally trained adult vocal ensemble, now in its 36th season, will present the holiday performance, “Sounding Joy – Trumpets Sound and Angels Sing!” and will be joined by special guests the Wichita Brass Quintet, featuring Hesston Mennonite Church’s Andover tracker pipe organ.

Dr. Mark Bartel has led the choir as artistic director and conductor for more than three years. Bartel is director of choral music at Friends University (Wichita, Kan.) where he conducts the Singing Quakers, Madrigal Choir, Women’s Chorus and the Choral Union and teaches applied voice and conducting courses. He also serves as chair for the Kansas Choral Directors Association Repertoire and Standards for Community Choirs committee and the founder and director of Choral Connections, an annual choral festival that brings top choirs from across the state together to learn from one another.

The Wichita Chamber Chorale was founded in 1978, and is known as a highly competitive, individually auditioned ensemble. The group holds annual concerts and performs frequently at state and regional music conventions with a repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to avant-garde to popular.

For more information about Wichita Chamber Chorale’s HBPA appearance or to purchase season or single tickets, call 620-327-8158 (Hesston College) or 316-284-5205 (Bethel College), email hbpa@hesston.edu or visit the HBPA website at hesstonbethel.org.

The Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts Series, now in its 32nd year, is a collaborative effort of Hesston College and Bethel College, presenting five performances by world-renowned or regionally acclaimed artists each year. HBPA is funded in part by the cities of Hesston and North Newton, Excel Industries and Hustler Turf Equipment (Hesston), the Hesston Community Foundation, area patrons and the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.