First Lutheran Church will celebrate its Advent Adventure with a recital and lunch Wednesday. The event will begin at 11 a.m. with a devotion and prayer time; lunch at 11:30 a.m.; the recital from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. and a stroll through the nativity walk at 1:15 p.m. The lunch will cost $6 and reservations need to be made by noon on Monday. There is no admission fee for the recital. To make a reservation call the office at 507-373-6424.

The special guest will be violinist Eric Bate. He is an active performer in both Wisconsin and Minnesota. He is an associate concertmaster of La Crosse Symphony Orchestra and a substitute violinist for the Minnesota Orchestra. He is founder and artistic director of II Dolce String Quartet, a group of professional musicians residing in the Twin Cities. Bate has studied violin performing at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee under a full music scholarship from the Madison Music Clinic and later at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities under the tutelage of Professor Sally O’Reilly. Additional studies include violin pedagogy training under the guidance of Mar Bjork and O’Reilly.

Throughout his career, Bate has had the honor of playing in concert with some of the top names in the classical music world such as Joshua Bell, Emanuel Ax, Lynn Harrell and Thomas Trotter. Past performances include Flip Theatre’s debut production of Jason Robert Brown’s “Last Five Years” and Mu Performing Arts critically acclaimed production of Sondheims “A Little Night Music.”