Category: Old Holiday

With rebroadcast on Christmas Day at NOON

Hosted by Michael Barone, this is a live stereo music and spoken-word broadcast from the chapel of King’s College in Cambridge, England. The 30-voice King’s College Choir performs the legendary Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service of Biblical readings and music at 10 a.m. on Dec. 24th and an encore broadcast takes place at NOON on Dec. 25th.

In 1918, the then-new dean of King’s Chapel, 34-year-old Eric Milner-White, wanted to try something innovative and beyond the standard liturgy of the Church of England. So, he wove together scripture and song, called on readers of various ages from school and town, and made up this truly magical progression that carries us from prophecy to fulfillment, from Old Testament foretelling to a birthday celebration.

 

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The 2013 service booklet will be available here closer to the performance date.

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History of the service

Our Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was first held on Christmas Eve 1918. It was planned by Eric Milner-White, who at the age of 34 had just been appointed Dean of King’s, after experience as an army chaplain which had convinced him that the Church of England needed more imaginative worship.

A revision of the Order of Service was made in 1919, involving rearrangement of the lessons, and from that date the service has always begun with the hymn ‘Once in Royal David’s City’.

The service was first broadcast in 1928 and, with the exception of 1930, has been broadcast annually, even during the Second World War, when the ancient glass (and also all heat) had been removed from the Chapel.

Sometime in the early 1930’s the BBC began broadcasting the service on the World Service. It is estimated that there are millions of listeners worldwide, including those to Radio Four in the United Kingdom.

In recent years it has become the practice to broadcast a digital recording on Christmas Day on Radio Three, and since 1963, a shorter service, which uses different music and readings, has been filmed periodically for television.

There is also a more detailed history of the service.

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A celebration of the season as told through the glorious voices of Chanticleer, the 12-voice San Francisco-based men’s choir.

The program spans the globe and the centuries — from England in the 1300s to new arrangements of classic contemporary carols.

Click here to download the Holiday Concert Program! 

Called “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker magazine, and named Ensemble of the Year by Musical America in 2008, the San Francisco-based, GRAMMY® award-winning ensemble Chanticleer embarks upon its 36^th season in 2013-14, performing in 23 of the United States. A winter international tour of 9 European countries will see debuts in Dublin, Moscow, and St. Petersburg; and returns to Paris, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Bruges. Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for their “tonal luxuriance and crisply etched clarity,” Chanticleer is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for the seamless blend of its twelve male voices ranging from countertenor to bass and its original interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance to jazz, and from gospel to venturesome new music.

 

A perennial broadcast favorite featuring the Minneapolis-based ensemble, VocalEssence. Recognized internationally as one of America’s premier choral arts organizations, VocalEssence is led by the visionary Philip Brunelle.

Welcome Christmas Latin-style with the music of legendary jazz musician Dave Brubeck and his charming Christmas cantata La Fiesta de la Posada. Brubeck, who grew up on a cattle ranch in California, fell in love with the sounds of Mexican folk music that surrounded him. Blending Latin rhythms with American jazz, Brubeck created a stunning Christmas cantata celebrating Las Posadas, the Latin festival recounting the journey of Mary and Joseph to the stable. We’ll recreate the piece with Brubeck’s original instrumentation, featuring pianist Dan Chouinard and local mariachi band Mariachi Mi Tierra. Beloved carols will complete the program in settings by renowned American composers including “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “We Three Kings,” and “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Join VocalEssence for a performance that will warm your heart and get you in the Christmas spirit!

VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers
Dan Chouinard, piano
Mariachi Mi Tierra
Philip Brunelle, conductor

VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY CHRISTMAS CONCERT

The Valparaiso University invites you, once again, to their Christmas Concert, “A Carol Festival”.  This concert features over 200 musicians in spectacular Christmas celebration, and will include the Valparaiso University Chorale, Women’s Choir, Men’s Choir, Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Concert Band.

Some of the music to be performed includes portions of Handel’s Messiah, works by Benjamin Britten and John Rutter’s Gloria, Emmanuel Variants by Robert Foster for Band, Hymn to the Nativity by Brammeier, along with other traditional Christmas selections.

Conductors to include Christopher M. Cock, Chorale and Men’s Choir; Maura Janton Cock, Women’s Choir; Dennis Friesen-Carper, symphony orchestra; and Jeffrey Scott Doebler, Chamber Concert Band.

A tradition on campus for over 80 years, the Valparaiso University Christmas Concert will celebrate the holiday season in the Chapel of the Resurrection.

 

The Valparaiso University Chorale, one of the top Lutheran choirs in the United States, upholds the highest standard of choral art through performance of the greatest choral literature of all eras. The Chorale has been described as “a first-class ensemble” with performances referred to as “heavenly and virtuosic” as well as enthusing and “masterful.” The Chorale has served four residencies at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany—the only collegiate American choir to enjoy such a strong relationship with the church of Johann Sebastian Bach—most recently visiting in June of 2012 for the 800th anniversary of the church and its choir. The Chorale will perform sacred and secular pieces by Frank Ticheli, Daniel Gawthrop, Heinrich Schutz and Johann Sebastian Bach. The 48-voice ensemble is under the direction of Christopher M. Cock, Director of Choral and Vocal Activities, Director of the Bach Institute, and Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg Chair in Lutheran Music.

Mark your calendars, the Klezmer Special is early this year! Not since 1888  has Thanksgiving and Hanukkah coincided in what some are calling “Thanksgivukkah” (and won’t again until the year 79043) so listen for a very special Klezmer Special!

Join Jonathan Palevsky for a musical celebration of Hanukkah with spirited klezmer works performed by contemporary ensembles.

WBJC is happy to present you the 2012 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College Chapel, live on Christmas Eve day at 10am, and rebroadcast on Christmas Day at noon.

This program is made possible on WBJC by Winterthur.

The Service Booklet .pdf can be downloaded directly from their website.

History of the service

Get into the Christmas spirit with WBJC’s special broadcast of this year’s Christmas with Baltimore Choral Arts Concert. Tom Hall and Choral Arts ring in the Holidays from the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen for this popular and often sold out concert. The Full Chorus and Orchestra will perform classical holiday favorites and more!