Christmas Concerts and Events

Saturday, December 14, 7:30 — Waitsfield United Church of Christ. The Mad River Chorale, under the direction of Mary Jane Austen and including many of our musicians. A Holiday Concert will feature J.S. Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio Part 1” in English that celebrates the birth of Jesus. We will be accompanied by rich instrumentation: a string quintet, two oboes, two flutes, three trumpets and timpani!

We continue to make use of these instruments with Holst’s “Christmas Day” (a medley of familiar Christmas Carols), and Edward Elgar’s “The Snow” with words by his wife, C. Alice Elgar. We will sing a cappella Anton Bruckner’s “Ave Maria” and two traditional carols arranged by Robert Shaw and Alice Parker, “My Dancing Day” and “Masters in This Hall”.

All present will be invited to join the chorus in singing Christmas carols ~ and of course the Hallelujah Chorus ~ accompanied by trumpet and timpani. It will be glorious! Please come and be uplifted!

Saturday, December 14, 4 pm — Waterbury Congregational Church. A Santa Lucia Service of Light featuring the children of the church school.

Sunday, December 15, 4 pm — Waterbury Congregational Church. The Mad River Chorale’s second performance of A Holiday Concert. (See above.)

Saturday, December 21, 7:30 pm — Waterbury Congregational Church. Ring in the season with Solaris Vocal Ensemble as they present, A Joyful Sound, featuring guest artists Northern Bronze Handbell Ensemble. The concert will feature festive holiday selections for voices and instruments.

Solaris is delighted to welcome the Northern Bronze Handbell Ensemble with their five octaves of handbells as our guest artists! The concert opens with a dazzling new arrangement of Joy to the World by Solaris’ own Composer-in-Residence, James Stewart. A delightful array of songs of Christmas and Hanukkah by Eleanor Daley, Andre Thomas, Dan Forrest, Neil Ginsberg, Elaine Hagenberg, Alice Parker and Robert Shaw with a variety of wind, string and percussion instruments will reflect the joyous sounds of the season.

Please consider purchasing your tickets in advance at https://sevendaystickets.com/organizations/solaris-vocal-ensemble

Saturday, December 21, 7:30 pm –Unitarian Church of Montpelier, Onion River Chorus presents a winter concert. The program will consist of two pieces by Randall Thompson, Frostiana and Alleluia, settings of the hymn Ave maras stella by Grieg, Josquin and Monteverdi and three pieces by the contemporary Latvian composter Eriks Esenvalds.

Sunday, December 22, 4 pm — College Street Congregational Church – 265 College St., Burlington. The repeat performance by the Solaris Vocal Ensemble of their A Joyful Sound concert.

Sunday, December 22, 4 pm — Unitarian Church of Montpelier, Onion River Chorus winter concert.

Tuesday, December 24, 4 pm — The early Christmas Eve service, featuring the Christmas story old and new and Silent Night by candlelight, of course!

Tuesday, December 24, 7 pm — The late Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols, featuring our choir and great music, including, the closing carol, Silent Night by candlelight.

Open Choir!

Starting on November 24, Erik, Mary Jane and the choir invite you to an after worship open choir rehearsal. The intent is to sing and rehearse some Christmas music in parts not with the intention of later performing as a group or singing in worship, but to simply enjoy the experience of part-singing in a directed group. We hold in mind Augustine’s famous quip here that the one who sings, prays twice — but also his reminder that “singing belongs to one who loves,” or as one translation of his Latin puts it, “only the lover sings.”

These open rehearsals will last for about an hour. We hope you can join us.

Niebuhr Prayer for Nation

O Lord, unless you build the house, its builders will have toiled in vain. Unless you watch over the city, in vain the watchman stands on guard.

Look with mercy upon this company of your children that our labors may be crowned by your grace. Help us to be diligent in the disciplines of our calling and to engage in them in the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. Bind us together through our common responsibilities and prevent by your grace the frictions of sinful purpose from destroying the unity of the body of Christ. Give us the spirit of forbearance with one another, teaching us to forgive one another, even as you also in Christ have forgiven us. Help us to do the duty which each hour and day demands of us, but grant us grace also to have a vision of the constancy of your will above the chances and changes of our mortal life. Let us not be tempted by our weakness to evade the tasks you have given us to do; nor be tempted by our strength to estimate ourselves too highly. Grant that your strength may be made perfect in our weakness and your mercy purify what we have corrupted. O Lord, rule and overrule our affections and wills, that your kingdom may come, even through the confusion of human passions, and your will be done despite the unruly affections of men.

Look with mercy upon the peoples of the world, so full both of pride and confusion, so sure of their righteousness and so deeply involved in unrighteousness, so confident of their power and so imprisoned by their fears of each other. Have mercy upon our own nation, called to such high responsibilities in the affairs of mankind. Purge us of the vainglory which confuses our counsels, and give our leaders and our people the wisdom of humility and charity. Help us to recognize our own affinity with whatever truculence or malice confronting us that we may not add to the world’s woe by the fury of our own resentments. Give your Church the grace in this time to be as a saving remnant among the nations, reminding all peoples of the divine majesty under whose judgment they stand, and of the divine mercy of which they and we have a common need.