The holidays are in full swing, and we are winding down this semester at Fort Lewis College.

The music department holiday concert last Friday was a huge success with a nearly sold-out audience. Thank you for braving the wind and the snow to hear our students!

As has become tradition at the Community Concert Hall, the magical holiday ballet, “Nutcracker,” performed by the highly-acclaimed State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara, will usher in the holidays with two matinées and two evening performances beginning today and running through Sunday. Artistic Director Rodney Gustafson holds true to the original classical ballet in this Tchaikovsky masterpiece, creating a traditional “Nutcracker” set in Victorian times and suited for all ages. The ballet will feature a live orchestra with the San Juan Symphony.

On Thursday, The Blind Boys of Alabama bring their “Talkin’ Christmas!” show to the concert hall. The group has the rare distinction of being recognized around the world as both living legends and modern-day innovators. They are not just gospel singers borrowing from old traditions; the group helped to define those traditions in 20th century and almost single-handedly created a new gospel sound for the 21st. Since the original members first sang together as kids at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in the late 1930s (including Jimmy Carter, who leads the group today), the band has persevered through seven decades to become one of the most recognized and decorated roots music groups in the world.

As we close out this semester, I wish you all a warm and happy holiday season and look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Purchase tickets for concert hall events online at www.durangoconcerts.com, by phone at 247-7657 or at the Durango Welcome Center on the corner of Eighth Street and Main Avenue.

blaylock_sl@fortlewis.edu. Shauna Blaylock is the publicist/event coordinator for the Fort Lewis College Music Department (www.fortlewis.edu/music).