Weekend Concert Calendar, 12/13/07

First off, it should go without saying that you are NOT TO GO ANYWHERE tonight if you live in Boston. Everything is cancelled anyways, so just bake some cookies, brew some tea, and listen to a DVD of The Messiah or something.

However, on Friday, the fun begins! It's December in Boston, which means that there is more choral music than you can shake a stick at, so I will just give you the bare bones of each concert. Buckle your seatbelts - this will take a while!

My (non-choral) pick for Friday is friend Josh Lawton, who will present an organ concert at Church of the Holy Name in West Roxbury at 8:00 pm. He says, "The program will last a little over an hour, and will include the complete Nativité du Seigneur, Olivier Messiaen's first big programmatic cycle for organ, and probably his most popular as well. The concert will be free, with donations accepted at the door." He's a very good organist, and has a distinct flair for concert programming - come on by!

Also on Friday, December 14:

5:30 pm at the Church of the Advent in Boston, the Choirs of St. Paul's School present Lessons and Carols.

6:00 pm at Marsh Chapel at BU, the Marsh Chapel Choirs present a Lessons and Carols service.

7:30 pm at Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, the Vienna Boys Choir is in town!

7:30 pm (also at 3:00 and 7:30 on Saturday, and 3:00 on Sunday) the Indian Hill Music School Opera Workshop presents Amahl and the Night Visitors at the Camilla Blackman Hall, 36 King Street, Littleton, MA.

7:30 pm (also Saturday at 7:30) at Jordan Hall, Boston Baroque presents Handel's Messiah.

7:30 pm at St. Andrew's Episcopal in Wellesley, the SAPAS men's chorus and Katherine Evans present An Evening with Brahms.

8:00 pm at the First Church in Cambridge, The Boston Camerata presents A Renaissance Christmas.

8:00 pm at the Tabernacle Church in Salem, MA, The Paul Madore Chorale presents A Concert for Christmas: Gabrieli, Charpentier and Pinkham.

And starting on Friday and going through the end of the month, The Christmas Revels returns to Sanders Theater!

My pick for Saturday is The Back Bay Chorale. On Saturday at 8:00 pm at Emmanuel Church in Boston, Scott Allen Jarrett will lead the chorale in A Boston Christmas - The Christmas Cantata by Daniel Pinkham plus holiday selections. They will repeat the program on Sunday, Dec. 16 at 3:00 pm at Marsh Chapel on the BU campus.

Also on Saturday, December 15:

2:00 pm at the Arlington Street Church in Boston, the Boston Gay Men's Chorus presents a Family Holiday Matinee.

4:00 pm at Chapel of St. Joseph College, West Hartford, CT (a hike, but probably worth it!) the women of Concora present Britten's Ceremony of Carols and other Christmas music. I don't know anything about this group, but they look pretty cool.

4:00 pm at Trinity Church in Copley Square, Boston, the Trinity Church Choirs present Candlelight Carols. Again at 7 pm on Sunday. (There is also a benefit concert on Sunday at 4 pm.)

4:30 pm at St. Johns Episcopal Church in Charlestown, there will be an Advent Service of Lessons and Carols.

7:30 pm at Rogers Center for the Arts, Merrimack College, North Andover, The New England Classical Singers presents Wassail! Wassail! A program of traditional English Carols, Renaissance Works, and Christmas Spirituals.

7:30 pm at Christ Lutheran Church on Falmouth, the Solstice Singers present "O Sing of Light." (Repeats on Sunsay at 4 pm.)

And my pick for Sunday is me! I will be joining a performance of Britten's Ceremony of Carols at Christ Church in Andover. Come on by!

Or go and join the Christmas Caroling Mob at 4 pm at the Stony Brook T-stop! Serenade Jamaica Plain!

Also on Sunday:

I don't think I caught this one in my Messiah-sing round-up. 1:30 pm at the Performing Arts Center, 51 Walden St., Concord Center, MA, the Concord Orchestra will play some Handel and Bach, and then host a Messiah sing-along.

3:00 pm at Our Lady's Help of Christians Church, Washington St., Newton, MA, the Newton Community Chorus presents Handel's Messiah.

3:00 at St. Theresa of Avila Church, 2078 Centre St., W. Roxbury, MA, the Choirs of Holy Name and St. Theresa of Avila Parishes present their Annual Advent and Christmas Concert.

3:00 at St. Paul's Church in Harvard Sq., Cambridge, the Boston Boy Choir presents a Carol Festival.

3:00 pm at Jordan Hall, the Handel and Haydn Society's performs Bach's Christmas Oratorio. (You can also hear this on Wed., Dec. 18 at 8 pm at the same place.)

3:30 pm at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, enjoy a choral and handbell concert by students of the school.

4:00 pm at the Parish of All Saints, 209 Ashmont St., Dorchester, MA, the All Saints Choir of Men and Boys presents The Christmas Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols. This one looks neat - the choir has good credentials.

4:00 pm at the First Unitarian Society in Newton, 1326 Washington St., W Newton, MA, Youth Pro Musica presents their annual winter concert (including Britten's Ceremony of Carols.)

4:00 pm at the Regis College Fine Arts Center, 235 Wellesley St., Weston, MA, Boston's Saengerfest Men's Chorus presents a Christmas Concert with the Worcester Brass Consort.

4:00 pm at Christ Church, Zero Garden St., Cambridge, MA, the Christ Church Choirs present a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.

7:00 pm at the Longy School of Music, the Longy Chamber Choir presents Schutz and Bach.

7:00 pm at First Parish of Westwood, the St. Petersburg Men's Ensemble presents Russian sacred and folk music.

And of course, don't forget all those Messiah sings! I didn't list them again here, but the Masterworks sings are also this weekend!

Oh, and do me a favor - if this is useful to you, and you go to one of these concerts, leave me a comment about it!