Old-fashioned holiday music and contemporary carols will be delivered to audience members Sunday by the Eastern Symphony Orchestra, the University Mixed Choir and the Concert Choir.

The annual Holiday Concert will spread Christmas music at 4 p.m. Sunday in the Dvorak Concert Hall of the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

Richard Rossi, the conductor of the Eastern Symphony Orchestra and the director of orchestral and choral activities, said the concert will be split into two music eras: past and present.

“It helps us prepare for the celebration of the season,” Rossi said.

He said they want to show older and newer holiday music.

Rossi said the pieces in this half are from the Baroque Period. The pieces are “Concerto in D for Three Trumpets, TWV54: D4” by Georg Philipp Telemann and “Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op. 6 No. 8 (Christmas Concerto)” by Arcangelo Corelli.

Rossi said the first piece will feature three trumpet soloists: Andrew Cheetham, a music professor; Donny de la Rosa, a music graduate student; and Evan Fowler, a senior music major.

The second piece will also feature three student soloists: Maura Shepherd, Elizabeth Southards and Riley Parish.

This section of the concert will be chamber orchestra. The full orchestra and choirs will not perform until the second half of the concert.

“The orchestra will be playing ‘A Christmas Carol Symphony’ that is based on Christmas carols, but based on English and America, all kinds of carols,” Rossi said.

This piece, by Patric Standford, has four movements, but the orchestra will only be playing three.

Rossi said the choirs will also sing traditional carols that people know like “Joy to the World” by Lowell Mason, “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson and “O Holy Night” by Adolphe Adam.

“I like the eclectic element of the repertoire from early music into the present,” Rossi said. “I think this allows for a lot of variety and helps tap into different interest of different people.”

Elizabeth Southards, a junior communication disorders and sciences major, said she likes playing music that she grew up with as a child.

“It’s fun to know what you are playing ahead of time,” she said.

She said it is also fun because the audiences know the songs as well, and they are a tradition.

“Music is a really big part of celebrating Christmas for a lot of people and so listening to Christmas music is a really big part for a lot of people,” Southards said.

Admission is $5 for students, $10 for Eastern employees and audience members 62 and older, and $12 for the general audience.

Rossi said the concert helps people get back to the roots of Christmas.

“It gets them into the holiday spirit and realize it is more about family and friends,” Rossi said. “The music will hopefully help bring them closer to that than thinking it is all about shopping and the material element, because it is so much more.”

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.