Christmas may be coming, but there's even more to the season than the traditional Christian holiday. There's also winter solstice — the shortest day and longest night of the year.
In celebration, Celtic fusion group Stonecircle will be giving its second annual concert at the Music in the Box series.
"Last year we decided there's a lot of concerts that do Christmas carols and so forth," said band member George Schoemaker. "Kurt Bestor has his Christmas special that he does at Abravanel Hall, many years running, and I decided it would be nice to have a winter-solstice concert that celebrates the fall and the winter."
The last concert, he said, was sold out and very successful. This concert will feature a lot of music from Stonecircle's new winter solstice-themed album, "Winter Sky." "What we do is we put all the music together in a suite in the second part of our concert, and it has transitions between each of the songs, and we play it as a complete unit. So it makes it kind of special, and something a little bit different. We found that the audience has really responded very favorably to that, and so we're going to continue to do that every year."
The first half of the concert will feature fan favorites and pieces from the other CDs.
Schoemaker said that last year, people made requests from the audience. "It was actually very successful, but there were some audience requests that we hadn't played for years, because we've had a 12-year existence. So it was a challenge but it turned out OK."
Although the music is Celtic-based, Schoemaker said the group has also infused jazz, folk and classical elements. "It seems to have a little wider appeal to our audiences, and we certainly have a sizeable fan base that likes this particular music."
Together since 1993, Stonecircle is a concert band, he said. "We don't do the bar scene, we don't do weddings." Although there have been some personnel changes over the years, their current group, he said, has been together for five years and is a "solid group of excellent musicians."
Currently, the band is comprised of Krista Baker is on the fiddle and violin; Nina Cooley on flute, percussion and background vocals; Brian Dobson playing the uilleann pipes, Irish whistle and bodhran; Mary Johnston-Coursey on vocals, whistles and percussion; and George Schoemaker on 12-string guitars, harmonicas and vocals.
If you go . . .
What: "Winter Solstice," Stonecircle
Where: Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
How much: $15
Phone: 355-2787 or 888-451-2787
Web: www.arttix.org
E-mail: rcline@desnews.com