Flathead Valley music lovers will be treated to a grand affair to welcome in the holiday season, when 100 voices present the Western Montana AA Choir Festival Concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Glacier High School performance hall.

“This is an event that Kalispell has been waiting for — Flathead and Glacier high school concert choirs joining together to make beautiful music,” said Sandee Sauer, Glacier High School choir director.

Flathead High’s Choral-Aires and the Glacier High Echoes will open the concert.  The All-State choir members from both schools will perform a song from their recent festival. The two concert choirs will perform separately at the concert, and then combine to present five choral masterworks.

The guest director is Richard Nace, one of the Pacific Northwest’s foremost choral educators and conductors. Nace is in constant demand as a conductor, lecturer, workshop leader and retreat specialist throughout the United States and Canada; he has also served as faculty artist at the University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University.

The repertoire Nace has chosen includes Christmas music, a beautiful arrangement of “Make Me An Instrument of Thy Peace” and the lively spiritual “Sit Down Servant.” 

“The two choirs will rehearse for two days under Mr. Nace’s direction, and I expect that by Tuesday evening, the festival choir will be performing at a high level of polish and intensity,” said Kevin Allen-Schmid, Flathead High School choir director. 

There is no admission charge for the concert.