Get in the holiday spirit as a Forest Hills church holds its 36th annual Christmas concert later this month.
The Sacred Music Society of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church along with the Oratorio Society of Queens will present the concert on Sunday, Dec. 15, at 4 p.m. Under the artistic direction of church music director David Close, the program includes a performance of selections from Handel’s “Messiah” followed by a medley of Christmas favorites.
In 1741, George Frideric Handel composed “Messiah,” an English-language oratorio based on texts from the King James Bible and the Cloverdale Psalter. The show features performances from soprano Jennifer Gliere, tenor John Easterlin and Nathan Bahny, a bass-baritone with the Orchestral Arts Ensemble of Queens.
During the concert’s second half, the group will perform “The Many Moods of Christmas, Suite 1,” a collection of carols by Robert Shaw and Robert Russell Bennett. Familiar songs from the suite include “Adeste Fideles” and “Silent Night.” Fresh from his longtime Broadway engagement in “The Phantom of the Opera,” Easterlin will perform his rendition of “Ten Thousand Joys.”
The entire chorus and orchestra will also perform Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “O Holy Night.”
General admission tickets are $35 and $10 for children 12 and under who are accompanied by an adult. For more information, call Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Rectory at 718-268-6251.
