My name is Doctor Trent Brown.

I'm the artistic director of Joyful and Triumphant, and I'm the director of choirs at Florida Gulf Coast University in the Bower School of Music.

This is, our 14th Joyful and Triumphant.

It's really exciting to be a part of people's holiday celebrations The students work on this for months since the end of September, beginning of October.

Christmas for musicians starts early.

Being part of Joyful and Triumphant is very, very special to me.

Out of all of the choral directors I've had in my life, Doctor Brown is probably the one that shows the most, like, passion about the music itself and about the art.

These students learn beyond musical skills ways to understand the world, to have empathy, to take something and to solve it with just your human instincts, and to make something really remarkable.

Okay.

That's perfect.

So really watch me, because your sound is just going to go all over.

This year we're excited to welcome back to Florida Gulf Coast University, Roland Forti, FGCU alum who's taking over as interim director of orchestras And it's been so rewarding to see his work with our students.

I've played in Joyful and Triumphant for all the four years I've been here.

My sister participated when she went to FGCU, as well.

I was an audience member.

And to be able to play in it, I've kind of see both sides of it.

There's been this legacy of students helping each other out over the years.

the relationships that they've made here will be lifelong friendships.

And it's through the music that they were able to have this opportunity to meet each other.

Finding meaningful relationships here has meant the world to me.

And I know that I have lifelong friends.

I work at a retirement home in Venice, Florida.

there's a man that I've served on numerous occasions.

And he told me, that he has come to every single Joyful and Triumphant for the past, I think six or so years.

Year in and year out, people come to this performance.

And it's the way that the holidays are marked for them Everyone's welcome.

Brightest and best of the stars of the morning dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid Star of the east, the horizon adorning guide where our infant Redeemer is laid Brightest and best of the stars of the morning dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid Star of the east, the horizon adorning guide where our infant Redeemer is laid Brightest and best of the stars of the morning dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid Star of the east, the horizon adorning guide where our infant Redeemer is laid Brightest and best of the stars of the morning dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid Star of the east, the horizon adorning guide where our infant Redeemer is laid Once in Royal Davids City stood a lowly cattle shed, where a mother lay her baby in a manger for his head Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ, her little child.

He came down to earth from heaven.

Who is God and Lord of all, and his shelter was a stable and his cradle was a stall; With the poor and mean and lowly lived on Earth, our Savior holy.

Not in that poor, lowly stable, with the oxen standing by We shall see him; but in heaven, set at Gods right hand on high; Where like stars his children crowned, all in white shall wait around.

O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.

Come and behold him, born the King of angels; O come let us adore him, O come let us adore him, O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels; sing in exultation.

Sing all ye citizens of heaven above.

Glory to God in the highest O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning; Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.

O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

Joy to the World!

The Lord is come; let earth receive her King; let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing.

He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness and wonders of his love.

Let their celestial concerts all unite, ever to sound his praise in endless blaze of light.

in endless blaze of light.

Let their celestial concerts all unite, ever to sound his praise in endless blaze of light.

in endless blaze of light.

to sound his praise in endless blaze of light.

Let their celestial concerts all unite, to sound his praise in endless blaze of light.

Let their celestial concerts all unite, ever to sound his praise in endless blaze of light.

Let their celestial concerts all unite, ever to sound his praise in endless blaze of light.

Let their celestial concerts all unite, ever to sound his praise in endless blaze of light.

Sure on this shining night Of starmade shadows round, Kindness must watch for me.

This side the ground.

On this shining night This shining night This shining night On this shining night This shining night The late year lies down the north.

All is healed, all is health.

High summer holds the earth.

Hearts all whole.

The late year lies down the north.

All is healed, all is health.

High summer holds the earth.

Hearts all whole.

Sure on this shining night I weep for wonder Wandering far alone Of shadows on the stars.

Sure on this shining night On this shining night This shining night.

Sure on this shining night What Child is this, who, laid to rest, On Mary's lap is sleeping?

Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ, the King, Whom shepherds guard and angels sing: Haste, haste to bring Him laud, The Babe, the Son of Mary!

Ding dong!

Merrily on high in heavn the bells are ringing: Ding dong!

Verily the sky is rivn with angel singing.

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

Even so here below, below, let steeple bells be swungen.

And i-o, i-o, i-o, by priest and people sungen.

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

Shepherds, called by angels, called by love and angels: No place for them but a stable.

My Lord has come.

Sages, searching for stars, searching for love in heaven; No place for them but a stable.

My Lord has come.

His love will hold me, his love will cherish me, love will cradle me.

Lead me, lead me to see him, sages and shepherds and angels; No place for me but a stable.

My Lord has come.

Love is a rain of diamonds in the mind The fruit of the soul sliced in two.

A dark spring loosed at the lips of light.

Under-earth waters unlocked from their lurking To sparkle in a crevice parted by the sun Love is Love is a rain of diamonds in the mind Oh, diamonds La la la la la la la la la la la la la.

Love is a rain of diamonds Love is a rain of diamonds in the mind The fruit of the soul sliced in two.

A temple not of stone but cloud.

Beyond the roar of the heart and all violence Blue permanence.

Love is a rain of diamonds in the mind Oh, diamonds Love is a rain of diamonds Oh, diamonds Love is a rain of diamonds La la la la la la la la la la la la la.

It can be a difficult moment at the end of the concert when you know someone has had their last Joyful and Triumphant My name is Luke Stephens.

I am a senior public health major, and I'm in the FGCU Chamber Choir.

My name is Kaylee Price, and I'm a senior vocal performance major here at FGCU.

My name is Melissa Gomez.

I'm a senior, and I'm studying psychology, but I'm also a minor in music.

My first year here at the university, I was not a music major.

I was undeclared in my focus was environmental engineering.

Doctor Brown pulled me aside, when I auditioned for chamber choir and said, you know, do you want to audition for the School of Music?

I think you should get on that.

So he's actually pretty much the entire reason I'm even at the school of music.

Working with Doctor Brown is, like, a real joy and an absolute pleasure.

it's just amazing to get to know people on such a deep level and to make this music with everybody.

So I think Joyful and Triumphant is actually one of the things I'll miss most when I graduate.

I've made a lot of memories.

All of my best friends are here.

It's going to be very, very sad to leave them.

You see the emotion, that they share with their friends.

certainly we wish people could stick around longer, but we're also proud of them for graduating and what they're going to do next in their life.

I'm currently in the process of applying to law school and to get my master's in public health, and I want to work in health policy.

I really enjoy singing in choirs, and that's what I want to do professionally.

hopefully one day I can go to graduate school and try my hardest to find a program that really gets me ready for even more intensive choral performing.

The first Noel the angel did say was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay; In fields where they lay keeping their sheep, on a cold winters night that was so deep.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel Then let us all in one accord, Sing praises to our heavenly Lord, That has made heaven and earth of naught, and with his blood mankind hath bought.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel Na, na, na, na, na Na, na, na, na, na Oh, day of fire and sun.

Na, na, na, na, na Pure as a naked flame.

Ma, ma, ma, ma Oh, day of fire and sun.

Blue sea, blue sky.

Blue sky and dun.

Dun, dun, dun Sands where he spoke my name.

Ma, ma, ma, ma, ma Oh, day of fire and sun.

Na, na, na, na, na Pure as a naked flame.

Ma, ma, ma, ma Oh, day of fire and sun.

Laughter and hearts so high Laughter and hearts so high that the spirit flew off free.

Laughter and hearts so high that the spirit flew off free.

Oh, day of fire and sun.

Lifting into the sky.

diving into the sea.

Oh, day of fire and sun.

Pure as a naked flame.

Ma, ma, ma, ma Oh, day of fire and sun.

Blue sea, blue sky.

Blue sky and dun.

Dun, dun, dun Sands where he spoke my name.

Ma, ma, ma, ma Oh, day of fire and sun.

Na, na, na, na, na Pure as a naked flame.

Ma, ma, ma, ma Oh, day of fire and sun.

Like a crystal burning.

Na, na, na, na, na Oh, day of fire and sun.

Slow days go one by one, but you have no returning.

Good evening.

And thank you for joining, for joining us here tonight and being here to support the 210 student musicians that you see today.

Your ticket and accompanying donations have created countless opportunities for students in instrumental and vocal areas, which includes summer programs, study abroad, ensemble tours, both domestically and internationally.

Instrument purchases and scholarship assistance.

We recognize and thank those donors whose endowed scholarships support our student musicians with costs associated with college, especially the ever increasing cost of housing in our region.

Any contribution made to our program on Giving Tuesday or any other day goes 100% to student experiences.

We never use these funds for printer repair.

Overhead costs and I assure you, never for faculty salaries.

One can dream.

We are especially thankful for to Suncoast Credit Union and their sponsorship of this concert.

This gift has a profound impact on students, especially the annual recruitment tour, where student ensembles travel to high schools in the state and share music and encourage others to join the FGCU music community.

Suncoast invests in Southwest Florida.

They know our region and help provide capital for small businesses and for home purchases.

We invite you to learn more about their excellent financial opportunities and their philanthropy in the community.

Students in FGCU music ensembles represent all walks of campus life.

Roughly 40% of FGCU ensembles are comprised of students pursuing degrees across all colleges on campus, including education, sciences, history, business, psychology, nursing, engineering, and every mom and dad's favorite major.

Undecided.

It is an exciting time to be a part of the arts because of A And you may ask how much AI was used in the performance of this concert?

Trent.

And the answer is zero.

As AI accelerates routine work and generates endless streams of content skills like imagination, interpretation, emotional intelligence and esthetic judgment become more valuable.

Arts education cultivates the ability to produce original ideas rather than predictable outputs, and it's an exciting area of study that will become one of the most important in developing a workforce.

Ready for tomorrow.

I would like to recognize our university's outstanding people.

First, Can any music faculty, staff, or administrator please stand and remain standing to be recognized?

Now, anyone else employed by FGCU, including emeritus and retired members, please stand so we can recognize your contribution to our students as well.

Thank you.

You are the first to hear of some important news about Joyful and Triumphant 2026, I should say for a drum roll.

But no, you might not hear me if I ask for it.

Because of a modification to the academic calendar next year, Joyful and Triumphant will switch dates after years of being held the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, we will move in 2026 to the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Yes.

Imagine that.

That's the weekend before.

So we will still be here at Moorings Presbyterian and have shows at four and seven.

So please remember that change and we'll be sure to to put that on our publicity material.

But recall that the chamber choir you see before you will travel this March to Croatia, Italy and Slovenia, representing FGCU and the United States in a performance tour.

It is the fifth international tour under my direction with this ensemble, and is made possible for these students by generosity of many of you.

Our next musical work will not, from any country that we will visit, is a piece commissioned for the chamber choir by a Latvian composer, who we met because of the 2017 tour to the Baltics.

It's a work about, it's a work about when presented with challenges, the light of the world becomes transcended through one's ancestors to deliver the protagonist of the story from darkness into a more transcendent state of being.

I must warn you, it's not exactly holiday, but we'll do our best to get you in the mood.

Hark!

The Herald Angels sing, Glory to the new-born King; Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!

Joyful, all ye nations, rise.

Join the triumph of the skies.

With th Angelic Hosts proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem!

Hark!

the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born King.

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace Hail the Sun of Righteousness Light and life to all He brings; risn with healing in His wings Mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die Born to raise us of the earth Born to give us second birth Hark!

the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born King.

I was glad when they said unto me, we will go into the house of the Lord.

Our feet shall stand in thy gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is builded as a city that lives at unity in itself.

O pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee.

Peace Peace be within thy walls, and plenteousness within thy palaces.

plenteousness within thy palaces Cold are the people, Winter of life.

We tremble in shadows this cold endless night.

Frozen in the snow lie roses sleeping, flowers that will echo the sunrise.

Fire of hope is our only warmth, weary, its flame will be dying soon.

Voice in the distance, call in the night.

On wind you enfold us, You speak of the light.

Gentle on the ear, you whisper softly, rumors of a dawn so embracing.

Breathless love awaits darkened souls.

Soon will we know of the morning Silent night!

Holy night!

All is calm, all is bright, Round yon Virgin Mother and Child!

Holy Infant, so tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace!