Welcome to our 28th Annual Festival of Christmas Music!

The sounds of bells, harp, and voices have a special association with the Christmas holiday. There is something about the clear golden pings of a beautiful choir of bells that says to us crisp, cold night air, brilliant light in the darkness. The harp brings us a sense of warmth, intimacy, home, heavenward thoughts. And voices bring to life in a palpable way over-used words like community, family, hope, and love.

Our featured work, Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols was written during an ocean voyage to America in the middle of World War II. It looks back at the rich and ancient traditions of Christmas in England with the longing of a composer who would soon cut his visit short to America out of a feeling (even as a pacifist) that he needed to be back home while his homeland was under siege. The timeless quality of the music and its poetry never fail to excite and touch our hearts at this time of year.

We hope these annual concerts become part of your way to make the season right - a time for gathering in, for taking account of what is most precious to us, both personally and as a community and nation in a troubled but still hopeful world. - TL