From Darkness into Light – The Upper Canada Choristers & Cantemos celebrate the Holidays at Grace Church on-the-Hill

7:30 p.m. In Person and Online: The Upper Canada Choristers and their accomplished Latin ensemble Cantemos celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in a diversity of languages and styles. Laurie Evan Fraser conducts, with Hye Won Cecilia Lee as pianist. Titled From Darkness into Light, the concert features excerpts from Bachs Christmas Oratorio and Handels Messiah; words by poet Sarah Williams sung to a Haydn canon; Morten Lauridsens Sure on This Shining Night (to a poem of James Agee), two Christmas songs by John Rutter; carols, and the spiritual This Little Light of Mine. For Hanukkah, the choir performs We Are Lights and the Judeo-Spanish Ocho Kandelikas (Eight little candles). The choir honors the African American cultural celebration of Kwanzaa with Harambee (pull together in the Kenyan language of Kiswahili), a song reflecting the seven principles of the holiday.Cantemos offers up three Spanish numbers: Quieres Contar mis Estrellas? (Do You Want to Count My Stars?), by Venezuelan Miguel Delgado Estevez, arranged for mens voices by Venezuelan composer Cesar Alejandro Carrillo; aguinaldos (carols) by Carrillo, and Los Reyes del Oriente (Kings from the East), from Puerto Rico. IN PERSON TICKETS: A limited number of tickets will be available to fully vaccinated people aged 12 and up (subject to all public health regulations in force at the time), purchased on a first-come basis from Eventbrite (https://bit.ly/3qbFEHK). LIVE-STREAMING at https://youtu.be/Cu-eQMZoCnA is free, but donations are welcome to cover expenses.