The 42nd annual Old North Festival Chorus Christmas Concerts — presented each year as part of Marblehead’s Christmas Walk — will take place on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary of the historic Old North Church Meeting House, 35 Washington St., Marblehead.
Highlights of the December 2022 Festival Chorus Concerts — for chorus and full orchestra — include:
- “Missa in Angustiis (Lord Nelson Mass)” by Franz Joseph Haydn;
- “A Musicological Journey Through the Twelve Days of Christmas,” by Craig Courtney; and
- arrangements of seasonal music for chorus and orchestra with audience participation.
Featured soloists include Holly Cameron, soprano; Gabriela Fagen, mezzo-soprano; Frankie Campofelice, tenor; and Michael Galvin, bass.
The Old North Festival Orchestra, soloists and 70-voice chorus will be led by Maria van Kalken, minister of music at Old North Church, who celebrates her 34th season as director of the Festival Chorus.
The Festival Chorus gathers Old North’s Senior Choir together with enthusiastic singers — amateur to professional — from many neighboring communities in Marblehead.
Each season, the Festival Chorus welcomes new voices while maintaining a devoted ensemble from previous years; this season’s Chorus totals over 100 participants.
Encouraged by a love for music and a reputation as the North Shore’s most spirited and talented volunteer choirs, the Festival Chorus & Orchestra has been lauded for its outstanding performances of major choral works each year.
Director van Kalken holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from the Oberlin and New England Conservatories of Music, primarily under the tutelage of the late Yuko Hayashi and the late Donald Teeters, and has amassed an education abroad in Amsterdam and Pistoia, Italy.
Tickets for Festival Chorus performances are priced at $30 and may be purchased in advance at Arnould Gallery, 111 Washington St., and Crosby’s Marketplace, 118 Washington St.
Tickets may also be purchased online HERE. Finally, tickets may be reserved in advance by calling 781-608-2782.
While ticket buyers are encouraged to wear masks at these public performances, masks are optional.
The Old North Festival Chorus is supported in part by a grant from the Marblehead Cultural Council as administered through the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Old North Church is accessible for the physically impaired.
