The North Country Chorus presents its annual holiday concerts on Saturday, December 7, at 7:30 pm at the United Community Church at 1325 Main St. in St. Johnsbury. Admission is by donation. (Also on and Sunday, December 8, at 3 pm.)

Alan Rowe will direct the seventy singers of the community chorus to present Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols" and the suite of "Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest" by Conrad Susa. They will also sing Mendelssohn's "Behold a Star from Jacob Shining."

St. Johnsbury Academy's select choral ensemble, the Hilltones, will round out the program with an eclectic set including a spiritual, an Irish farewell song, a Canadian folk tune, and a piece by Norwegian artist Aurora.

Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols" was inspired by his discovery of a collection of poems by 15th and 16th century Old English writers, most of whom are anonymous. Composed in 1942, it is an unusual setting for voices and harp, which became an iconic choral landmark of the Christmas season. Academy teacher Elia Desjardins will play the harp for these performances, with Sandra Sprecher on piano.

Susa's "Carols and Lullabies" was composed in 1992 as a companion piece to Britten's "Ceremony of Carols." A friend showed Susa a collection of traditional Spanish carols he had sung as a boy in Arizona. He arranged the songs to form a narrative, noting their connections with Renaissance music along with their homey, artful simplicity. Susa added marimba (played by Academy grad Kaci Cochran) and guitar (played by Peter Mathews) to Britten's harp to give the work its distinctive Southwestern flavor.

Event Info

Nov 23, 2024, 2 to 3:30 PM

Nov 23, 2024, 5 to 9 PM

Nov 28, 2024, 11 AM to 12:30 PM