The Wichita Chamber Chorale has finalized dates for its 2011-12 season, its second under the leadership of Artistic Director and Conductor Mark Bartel.

December 17 and 18, the Chorale will present “Sounding Joy: An American Christmas.” The concert will explore the breadth of the Christmas tradition in the United States, from the sturdy choruses of Colonial New England to the plaintive folksongs of Appalachia, and from the anthems of cathedrals and conservatories to the perennial favorites of America’s crooners. Both concerts will be at Plymouth Congregational Church.

March 31 and April 1, 2012, the Chorale will present “Choral Classics: Earth, Sky and Sea.” The wonders of the world around us have long inspired poets and musicians to imitate its sounds, to explore its mysteries and to give voice to our deepest emotions. Through a varied program of offerings ranging from folk songs to avant garde compositions, the Chorale will examine our relationship to nature through the beauty of the most natural of instruments, the human voice. Among the featured works will be Aaron Copland’s “In the Beginning,” works by György Ligeti and Eric Whitacre, and the Kansas premiere of Chinese-American composer Zhou Long’s “Words of the Sun.” Both concerts will be at Plymouth Congregational Church.

The season will conclude on June 12, 2012 with the WCC’s annual Cabaret Fundraiser at Prairie Pines.

In addition to these concerts, the Chorale will join the combined choirs of Wichita State University for a May 3, 2012, performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125.