Vespers to celebrate holiday season

Northwestern College’s music department will present its annual Christmas Vespers services on Saturday, Dec. 5, and Sunday, Dec. 6. Members of the A cappella Choir, Women’s Choir, Heritage Singers, Chamber Orchestra, and brass and chimes ensembles will perform a variety of carols, Christmas musical selections and readings at 7 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday in Christ Chapel. The event is free, and the public is invited to attend.

The concert, entitled A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, follows the pattern of the traditional service at King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, England. Nine Scripture lessons interwoven with the musical selections will frame the story of the birth of Christ. The stories begin with creation and the fall of man and conclude with the affirmation of the deity of the Christ Child. Readers will include Northwestern faculty, students, staff and community members.

The works to be performed include Misericordia Domini by Michael Praetorius, Magnificat Chant by Hildegard Von Bingen, Mozart’s Divertimento and Gloria Patri by Bach.

The A cappella Choir and Heritage Singers will be directed by Dr. Thomas Holm. Dr. Timothy McGarvey will direct the brass ensemble, and Dr. Linell Gray Moss will direct the Women’s Choir. The Chamber Orchestra will be under the direction of Jungho Kim, and the chimes ensemble will be led by Dr. Heather Josselyn Cranson.