Holiday-themed art joins CornerBank show

In addition to CornerBank’s regular December/January gallery exhibition by Lawrence artists Jean Reitz and Anita Markley, an extra display of holiday decor will be on view through Dec. 24.

Featured will be hand-carved Santas by Dick Smith, ceramic angels by Jan Gaumnitz, and natural Christmas ornaments and decor, including small Christmas trees and dried floral wreaths, from Pendleton’s Country Market.

All items except the Santas are for sale.

The artists and other exhibitors will be at a reception 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday at the bank, 4621 W. Sixth St.

KU instrumentalists to perform with choir

The Shawnee Mission East High School Chamber Singers and Kansas University Instrumental Collegium Musicum will present “A Chamber Messiah” 7 p.m. Tuesday at First Presbyterian Church, 2415 Clinton Parkway.

The choir, directed by Tracy Resseguie, is a small, select ensemble of 24 singers that has performed in a number of venues, including St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany, where Johann Sebastian Bach worked.

The Instrumental Collegium Musicum, directed by Paul Laird, professor of musicology at KU, plays music from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque on period instruments.

The concert will include the Christmas portion of George Frideric Handel’s famous oratorio, which premiered in 1742 in Dublin, Ireland, with a choir of about 25 voices and a small chamber orchestra.

A freewill offering will be received. For more information, contact Laird at 864-9716.

KU graduate appointed to national arts council

The U.S. Senate has confirmed the appointment of Kansas University graduate James K. Ballinger to the National Council on the Arts, the advisory body of the National Endowment for the Arts.

President George W. Bush nominated Ballinger, who received a bachelor’s degree in history in 1971 and a master’s degree in history of art in 1974 from KU and who has been director of the Phoenix Art Museum since 1982. He was confirmed along with Gerard Schwarz, music director of the Seattle Symphony, and Terry Teachout, drama critic of the Wall Street Journal.