For more than 40 years, BMPC has enjoyed an annual musical event during the seasons of Advent and Christmas. These Sunday afternoon programs have run the gamut from semi-staged operettas to celebrations of the American southwest to performances of “Messiah,” to performances of Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors, “to Lessons and Carols services. This year, we will offer a foretaste of Christmas Eve with a festive Christmas Lessons and Carols service.
Patterned after the celebrated annual services at Kings College Cambridge, this service will feature nine lessons accompanied by singing, either by the Sanctuary Choir or the congregation. The lessons detail the story of the fall of humanity, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus told in nine short Bible readings or lessons from Genesis, the prophetic books, and the Gospels, interspersed with the singing of Christmas carols, hymns, and choir anthems.
Joining the Sanctuary Choir is the Bryn Mawr Festival Brass and carillonneur Lisa Lonie, who will present a festive prelude before the service.
Sunday’s service is filled with gorgeous choral works, including favorites by John Rutter, John Stainer, G.F. Handel, David Willcocks, and Philip Ledger. Of special note, in anticipation of the choir’s tour to France next summer, Pierre Villette’s stunning “Hymne à la Vierge” will be presented in French! This service presents an opportunity to hear amazing choral music and to lift your voices in praise in several carols accompanied by brass and organ. This is also an opportunity to show gratitude to friends and family by inviting them to join you in what promises to be a deeply stirring service of word and music. A free-will offering will be received to help defray the costs of the service. Please join us this Sunday, December 15, at 4 p.m.
