BOUNTIFUL -- Even the most well-travelled songbird still occasionally finds the time to sing back at her own nest. Acclaimed soprano and concert artist Celena Shafer will once again be a featured performer at the Cheney Family "Celebration of Lessons and Carols," a free concert that will be held Nov. 24 at 6:45 p.m. at the LDS chapel located at 1356 North 650 East in Bountiful. Everyone is welcome to attend, though early seating is advised.

Shafer, originally a Davis County resident, has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland, the Welsh National Opera and others.

She has performed at both Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center, as well as regular performances with the Utah Symphony and Opera. She has also performed as part of the Libby Gardner Virtuoso Series at the University of Utah.

"Her voice is as clear as running water, with just the right amount of ring to it and wonderfully sensitive to dynamics," read a review of Shafer in the magazine "Opera Now." "There is a perfect lightness to it."

Shafer has performed at these Cheney Family Christmas Celebrations since their first in 1992. This year, Shafer will be performing a setting of the 23rd Psalm and "O Holy Night," accompanied on the piano by Tawna Cheney Love."

"Celena was a senior in high school when she performed for us that first year, and even though she's now a revered artist she's been so gracious to still perform for us over the years," said Susan Cheney, an organist for the evening. "She has a large following at our program."

Other performers will include trumpeter James Caswell, who will be performing "Every Valley Shall Be Exalted," from "Messiah." Violinist David Mueller will be performing "Silent Night," accompanied by his wife, Mikelle Cheney Mueller. The Cheney handbell choir will perform as well.

Audience members are encouraged to join in during the concert's selection of carols, which will include "The Holly and the Ivy," "Joy to the World," "As With Gladness Men of Old," and "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," among others. The carols will be accompanied by pipe organ, trumpet, bassoon, and handbells.

The music will be interwoven with poetry and scripture readings by Carolee Eriksson and Mark Cheney.

The chairperson for this year's Christmas Celebration is Lane Cheney, a choral director from Austin, Texas, and a former music director for the First United Methodist Church in Salt Lake City, has centered this year's program around Advent.



jwardell@davisclipper.com