The Quire, Eastern Iowa’s GLBT Chorus, presents its winter concert, “Seasons of Love,” on Saturday, December 15, at 7:00 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 310 N. Johnson Street, Iowa City. Admission is free; donations are accepted. This winter's concert centers around themes of time and season and features pieces by Benjamin Britten, Eric Lane Barnes and David Maddux.

The concert program offers The Quire's usual eclectic mix of classical choral repertoire, lighter seasonal favorites and humorous pieces by LGBT composers such as Barnes and Maddux. The Quire will perform a set of three a cappella Choral Dances from Benjamin Britten's opera, Gloriana: "Time," "Concord," and "Time and Concord." Seasonal favorites such as Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time is Here," from A Charlie Brown Christmas, plus arrangements of "Silver Bells," "The Christmas Waltz" and "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," are also on the program.

Quire audiences have come to expect pieces that take a lighter look at the holidays, and they won't be disappointed in Eric Lane Barnes' tongue-in-cheek "It's Our Christmas Cheer!" Another fun piece is David Maddux's "Christmas Goes Classical." Maddux has created a musical pastiche combining famous opera choruses and other familiar pieces with his own amusing holiday texts. Think of Bizet's "Toreador's Chorus" from Carmen, Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra," and Verdi's "Anvil Chorus" from Il Trovatore all recast into paeans to our favorite winter holidays.

As part of this year's concert, the audience is invited to join The Quire in a carol sing. A silent auction and post-concert reception offer the opportunity to combine socializing and last-minute holiday shopping.

The Quire, Eastern Iowa's GLBT chorus, is known for producing an incredible sound in a wide range of musical styles. It performs love songs and freedom anthems, classical works and Broadway hits, just-published works and beloved classics. From its first performance over 10 years ago with just 14 singers, it has grown to a chorus of nearly 50 members drawn from communities across eastern Iowa. The group is co-directed by Marlys Boote and Linda Kroon. For more information, visit www.thequire.org.