PORTLAND — The Choral Art Society will ring in the holiday season with its 27th annual Christmas at the Cathedral concert series. Performances take place at noon (preview) and 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, and at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7. All concerts will be held at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
A holiday season favorite, Christmas at the Cathedral attracts over 2,000 listeners with stirring and reflective music presented in a gorgeous setting. Music Director Robert Russell will conduct this annual concert. The CAS Singers ensemble will be joined by the Portland Brass Quintet and organist Dan Moore.
The performances will include the premiere of The Bells I Heard, winner of CAS’s inaugural New England Carol Contest. Composer Ellen Gilson Voth from Rocky Hill, Connecticut incorporated poetry by Portland’s Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in The Bells I Heard to capture the spirit of the season. Also featured will be American composer Daniel Pinkham’s most famous choral work, Christmas Cantata. Pinkham used Nativity texts and early music influences in his piece for chorus, brass, and organ.
Tickets in advance range in price from $22 to $35 at www.choralart.org or by cash or check at Longfellow Books in Portland, the Book Review in Falmouth, and Nonesuch Books in South Portland. A limited number of youth tickets (under age 21) are available for $5. Patrons attending the Saturday noon preview concert pay at the door an admission price of $12 for adults and $5 for those under 21.
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