CSArts-SGV Celebrates The Holidays With Festive Performances And Events

California School of the Arts - San Gabriel Valley (CSArts-SGV) students celebrate the holiday season with festive winter concerts and holiday events throughout the community. Performances and special seasonal events include:

Vocal Arts' "Season of Love": The CSArts-SGV Vocal Arts Conservatory presents its second annual Holiday Kickoff Chorale: "Season of Love." The event features an evening of engaging choral performances by the Chamber Singers, Chorale, Middle School Chorus and the Vocal Arts Ensemble, performing Benjamin Britten's "Ceremony of Carols" and other seasonal favorites from around the world. "Season of Love" takes place Friday, Nov. 30, at 7:30 p.m. at Church of the Good Shepherd Sanctuary, 400 W. Duarte Road, Arcadia, CA 91007.

Family Holiday Tree Lighting and Fiesta: In partnership with the City of Duarte and City of Hope, CSArts-SGV presents an original holiday musical, "The North Pole Players," adding to the festivities of the city's annual Family Holiday Tree Lighting and Fiesta. Pre-show entertainment features CSArts-SGV's Philharmonic Strings, Jazz Combo and Vocal Arts Ensemble, as well as the Duarte High School Concert Band and Duarte Dance. The tree lighting takes place Wednesday, Dec. 5 from 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. on the campus of City of Hope, Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010.

Descanso Gardens "Enchanted: Forest of Light": For the second year in a row, CSArts-SGV students are featured entertainment at Descanso Gardens' "Enchanted: Forest of Light," adding to the splendor of the interactive lighting experience. Watch them perform at the garden entrance on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8. Descanso Gardens is located at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011.

Visual Arts Winter Exhibition: Visual Arts students showcase the best of the fall semester at an exhibition that also features a collaborative project by both the Visual Arts and Creative Writing conservatories. Students from both programs perform readings from their collaborative publication, "Winter Memories." For this publication, the students teamed up to create original works of art and stories about winter memories. Students created a piece of writing or visual artwork then handed it off to students from the opposite conservatory to create something new about what they've seen or read. The Visual Arts Winter Exhibition takes place Saturday, Dec. 8 from 4:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. on the CSArts-SGV campus, 1401 Highland Ave., Duarte, CA 91010.

School of Dance Winter Concert: Students from both the Commercial Dance and Classical & Contemporary Dance conservatories in grades seven through 12 showcase a variety of dance styles at their annual winter concert. Styles range from ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, modern, hip hop and pointe. Guest artist Annie Yee has choreographed a Hula piece for select dancers from both conservatories. The School of Dance Winter Concert takes place Dec. 14 and Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Duarte Performing Arts Center, 1401 Highland Ave., Duarte, CA 91010.

Instrumental Music and Creative Writing Co-LAB: Winter Concert "The Nature of Industry/The Industry of Nature": This two-part program features a concert by the CSArts-SGV Philharmonic Strings, who performs a new work by composer Anthony O'Toole called "The Gardener." The second half of the performance is a collaboration between the school's Wind Ensemble and the Creative Writing Conservatory. "The Nature of Industry/The Industry of Nature" takes place Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at Church of the Good Shepherd Sanctuary, 400 W. Duarte Road, Arcadia, CA 91007.

Tickets for CSArts-SGV performances can be purchased online at sgv.csarts.net/boxoffice