Violinist Noemi Miloradovic looks for her cue during a January 2008 rehearsal for the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra.

Steven McDonald wants to offer you a reprieve from the business of the holiday season.

McDonald, director of the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra, says the annual Home for the Holidays benefit concert provides just that.

“It serves as a reminder of year-round music during Christmastime,” McDonald says. “It’s a nice little oasis from the hustle and bustle of the season.”

This year’s concert will be at 2 p.m. Dec. 21 at Lawrence Free Methodist Church, 3001 Lawrence Ave.

Although its title suggests otherwise, the “Home for the Holidays” program will not include Christmas music, McDonald says.

McDonald, who teaches full-time at Ottawa University and is finishing up a doctorate in musical arts at Kansas University, will serve as the master of ceremonies during the holiday concert.

The Lawrence-area artists featured in the concert play free of charge to benefit the orchestra. Nevertheless, McDonald, says it wasn’t difficult to get musicians to play.

“I never like to ask colleagues to play for nothing,” he says. “They’ve all been very generous.”

When choosing the soloists and small ensembles for the program, McDonald says he considers both musicians who are very well-known and those just starting to attain recognition, as well as teachers who don’t often get the chance to perform as solo musicians.

Linda Maxey, a marimba player and Lawrence resident, falls in the first category. She has been a soloist with the orchestra in the past. In this concert, Maxey will be performing with pianist Holly Beneventi.

Maxey says she supports the orchestra because it a great asset and treasure to the city.

“I think it’s very important for a cultural community like Lawrence to have its own orchestra,” she says. “It’s a group that I have long admired.”

She says the orchestra needs the patronage of the community to keep it going.

As a nonprofit group, the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra relies on donations and grants. In the midst of difficult economic times, McDonald says ticket sales take on greater importance.

Because it is a special concert, he expects more people to attend.

“We would love to fill the church,” McDonald says. “This town can take so much pride in having the orchestra, but very few people know about the musicians. My main goal is to get people in the seats.”

Jackie Bogner, president of the orchestra’s board of directors, says the board appreciates any donation that would benefit the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra’s gift to the community.

“If the benefit works out, we don’t have to fundraise for the rest of the year,” Bogner says.

Tickets are available at the door one hour before curtain time or in advance at Hume Music, 711 W. 23rd St. The cost is $13 for adults and $10 for seniors and students.