This service is a yearly favorite of many and is based on a liturgy developed at the National Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Washington, D.C.
A special service of Christmas Readings and Carols will be held at Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church, Lambertville, on Sunday, Dec. 20, at 4 p.m. Scripture readings concerning the prophecy and birth of Jesus will be proclaimed and followed by anthems from St. Andrew's choir and congregational singing. This service is a yearly favorite of many and is based on a liturgy developed at the National Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Washington, D.C.
Choral selections at this service will include, Gaudete!, a Medieval Carol, The truth from above, an English traditional carol, arr. R. Vaughan Williams, Ad cantus laeticiae (Pie Cantiones), Prepare ye the way of the Lord, Michael Wise, Adam Lay Y'bounden Boris Ord, Alleluia, Freuet Euch by Andreas Hammerschmidt, Ding Dong Merrily on High, O Come all Ye Faithful, Hark the Herald Angels Sing and others. At the end of the service Silent Night will be sung by everyone in a candle-lit church.
The Saint Andrew's Choir is directed by Michael T. Kevane, a graduate of Rider University 's Westminster Choir College. Kevane is the Organist-Choirmaster at Saint Andrew's. He serves in the same capacity at the Stockton Presbyterian Church.
Harpists Alison and Rebecca Lynn Simpson, mother-daughter professional harpists, will offer a selection of Christmas carols and hymns prior to this year's Carols by Candlelight. They will accompany the choir in three selections from Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols" and will also play a postlude.
Alison Simpson is a free-lance harpist, performing with local symphonies and choral societies in the tri-state area. She graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music and from Wheaton College and spent thirteen summers at the Salzedo Summer Harp Colony in Camden, Maine, studying with Alice Chalifoux. She has performed in Carnegie Hall and the Philadelphia Academy of Music and has produced a CD, "Harps Afire." Alison is on the faculty of Westminster Conservatory in Princeton and maintains a private studio in Doylestown.
Rebecca Simpson recently graduated with High Honors from Vanderbilt University and was inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society. Rebecca has studied the art of accompanying opera singers with members of the Metropolitan Opera at The Bel Canto Institute in Florence, Italy and released a self- titled classical CD in 2010 and is working on a second.
Alison and Rebecca performed together this last June at the Grand Ball in Brussels, Belgium.
The next special service in this series will be Jan. 10, 2016 at the 9:30 a.m. Liturgy, when the choir, soloists and baroque orchestra will present J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 7, BWV 7, "Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam" "Christ our Lord came to the Jordan."
All are welcome. Saint Andrew's Church is located at the corner of York and Main Streets in Lambertville. For more information, call 609-397-2425 or visit www.standrewslambertville.org.