Composer and pianist Dan Knight said his composition The Christmas Oratorio is the best work he’s ever done.

"It’s one of the few times in my life where I’ve had that kind of thing happen where I think that a few individual pieces from the Oratorio might be around after," he said. "They have a chance of being standards."

The Christmas Oratorio will première at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth St. Tickets are $20 for the general public, $15 for students and seniors.

The composition is a mixture of jazz and classical music involving Knight on the piano joined by faculty vocalists from the University of Iowa and a narrator.

When Knight sent the music to the university, he expected to have a few undergraduates willing to participate, but the School of Music faculty members enjoyed it so much that they didn’t want to pass it along to their students.

— by Julia Jessen