Annual Advent of Lessons and Carols at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross' annual Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols will be held on Wednesday, December 11 at 8:00 p.m. in the St. Joseph Memorial Chapel. All are invited to attend as the Holy Cross College Choir performs their 24th annual holiday concert. There is no admission fee.

The College Choir has been presenting the Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols as a cooperative service with the Chaplains' Office since December 1978. The religious service is based on one given each year at King's College Chapel in Cambridge, England.

The service consists of nine Advent and Christmas lessons taken from the Bible, beginning with Old Testament prophecies and concluding with the Gospels. The lessons are read by various members of the College community, and each one is followed by a corresponding carol sung by the College Choir. Familiar carols such as "Adeste Fideles" are interspersed with such choral pieces as Benjamin Britten's "A Hymn to the Virgin" and William Dawson's spiritual "Hail Mary."

Directed by Bruce I. Miller, the College Choir is comprised of 70 mixed voices. As the College's concert and touring chorus, the group maintains a vigorous schedule, including performances with orchestral accompaniment of major choral masterworks as well as lighter music. The College Choir has sung in the Vatican for His Holiness Pope John Paul II and performed with the Boston Pops.