Music on the Hill will offer varied opportunities for holiday music this December, from its popular “Sounds of the Season” concert with handbells and chorus on Friday, Dec. 1, to a crowd-pleasing Jingle All the Way! appearance at the Wilton Historical Society on Saturday, Dec. 2, and a Community Messiah Sing on Tuesday evening, Dec. 19. All are welcome to any and all of these musical celebrations of the holiday season.
The Sounds of the Season concert will feature winter songs and selections for Christmas and Hanukkah performed by two handbell ensembles, the 40-voice Festival Chorus and the Community Children’s Chorus, as well as familiar carols sung by all.
Choral highlights include Ralph Vaughan Williams’ lively “Wassail Song,”; “Christmas is Coming,” arranged by Mack Wilberg for chorus and four-hand piano; and Betty Bertaux’s arrangement of “S’vivon,” sung by the Festival Chorus and the Children’s Chorus.
Handbell ringers will play a jaunty “Sleigh Ride,” arranged for handbells by Martha Lynn Thompson, and will accompany the Children’s Chorus for “Ring Out, Wild Bells,” Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s celebratory New Year’s poem set to music by Music on the Hill Artistic Director Ellen Dickinson.
Sounds of the Season starts at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation (10 Lyons Plains Rd., Westport). Donations are welcome at the door; $25 is suggested.
The musical holiday fun continues with Jingle All the Way! Saturday, Dec. 2, at 2 p.m. outdoors at the Wilton Historical Society (224 Danbury Rd.). The Holiday Chorus, Children’s Chorus, and handbell ringers of Music on the Hill will perform fun holiday and winter songs to bring good cheer to all. The event includes Santa’s jingle bell bracelet workshop, a free craft for kids of all ages. Jingle All the Way! coincides with the Historical Society’s Great Trains Holiday Show and is offered without charge, with donations welcome. The snow/rain date for the event is the next day, Sunday, Dec. 3, also at 2 p.m.
On Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m., Music on the Hill will host a Community Messiah Sing at the Wilton Congregational Church (70 Ridgefield Rd.). The audience is the chorus! Featuring several guest conductors, soloists, and string quartet, this Messiah sing will include Part I of Handel’s oratorio, as well as the famous “Hallelujah” and “Worthy is the Lamb” choruses, the final movements of Parts II and III. All singers are welcome. Music-lovers are welcome to come and listen, as well. The suggested donation is $15, and a portion of the donations collected will be donated to Wilton Social Services.
