OU Combined Choirs will spread holiday spirit through song tonight as they present “Christmas at OU” at 8 p.m. in Sharp Concert Hall.

The choir concert, part of the OU School of Music’s Sutton Concert Series, will include familiar Christmas carols such as “Joy to the World” and “Silent Night” as well as newer holiday songs.

The four choral groups include University Chorale, University Singers, University Chamber Singers and Singing Sooners.

Richard Zielinski, director of University Chorale and Singing Sooners and the OU School of Music’s new choral activities director, said the Christmas concert would also feature an OU student brass quintet that will play holiday carols.

“I’m trying to unite the campus in song,” Zielinski said, who started teaching conducting and choral this semester at OU. “We do a lot of classical music, and with singing there’s a variety of music. I think this concert really shows off the variety of music here.”

The choral groups, all of which have rehearsed two to three times a week since mid-October, will sing several traditional and modern selections, Zielinski said. Smaller ensembles will also play traditional carols in between choral sets.

Kayley McCoy, a member of University Chorale and Singing Sooners, and, music education senior who joined OU’s choral program as a non-music major freshman, said she is most looking forward to sharing the experience of the hard work she and the rest of the ensembles put in with the audience.

“I know I speak on behalf of the other choral members when I say that after the last note is sung and the audience gives their applause of approval, that it makes every minute of rehearsal worth it,” McCoy said. “Christmas music especially holds some of the greatest stories told to man of redemption and hope for the world.”

Zielinski’s choral group University Chorale will perform Christmas classic “Silent Night” and “Three Nativity Carols” by modern composer Stephen Paulus.

The choral group Zielinski also co-directs, Singing Sooners, includes men and women’s glee clubs of both vocal majors and non-majors, and was started this semester. The group performs both OU spirit songs and popular songs.

“There’s a rich history of singing at this university, which dates back to the glee clubs at the turn of the century,” Zielinski said. “We’re going back to those songs and learning about the history of those songs. It ties us to the past and it ties us to the present and we want to take those songs to the future.”

Singing Sooners’ other co-director, Mark Lucas, an OU choral conducting and music education professor, said there have been holiday-themed concerts in the past, but “Christmas at OU” is unique because it is a continuous program without breaks.

“There probably won’t be any applause until the end,” Lucas said. “[This concert is different because] it’s highlighting all the different choirs at the university.”

The University Singers, Lucas’ directed group, also will perform a Paulus piece, “A Savior from on High,” a Christmas piece accompanied by harp and oboe.

University Chamber Singers, directed by Steven Curtis, has a program that includes a Jamaican Christmas song.

The finale, “A Musicological Journey Through the Twelve Days of Christmas,” is definitely not a traditional classical song, as it goes through every style of music since Gregorian chants, Lucas said.

Audiences will be able and are encouraged to sing along with the songs they know, Zielinski said.

OU choirs are open to all OU students, faculty and staff for credit. For more information contact Richard Zielinski at sing@ou.edu.