The longest night of the year in the northern half of the globe has just passed, quickly followed as always by the longest night of choral singing. The colleges and chorales are done for now, the carolers and wassail singers nearly so, now the last course features church choirs from one end of our area to the other. The services below are by no means all the places choirs will sing tonight, so you might want to call around it the times places and music being sung in the list below doesn’t suit your spirit and ear. On the other hand, there is Bach and Rutter and Handel and carols and lessons (and candles) among the all choices you have for both inner and outer ear.
You probably caught some choir, or sang in some kind of choir in the past four or five days. Maybe you joined hundreds of other in Little Bridges on Sunday, singing Handel. Or heard Pinkham sung in church on Sunday. If so (or if not) here are links to some of that music, and to some other music of the season that you probably won’t hear except here. Enjoy!
Verbum Caro factum est – John Sheppard
Rutter Christmas Lullaby – Cambridge Singers
Hallelujah! – Handel
Wednesday 24 December
3:30 p.m. / 4:00 p.m., St. Anthony Catholic Church, Lessons and Carols with choir, 4 p.m. mass, Upland
6:00 p.m., St. Joseph Catholic Church, Spanish mass with choir, Upland
6:00 p.m., Upland Brethren in Christ Church, Candlelight Service with choir, Upland
6:30 p.m. / 7:00 p.m., Pilgrim Congregational Church, at 6:30 pre-service special music, Candlelight Service at 7 p.m. with choir, Pomona
7:00 p.m. service, Bethel United Church of Christ, Candlelight Service with choir and quartet, Ontario
7:00 p.m., Chino United Methodist Church, service with choir, Chino
7:00 p.m., Claremont United Methodist Church, Lessons & Carols with Choir, Claremont
7:00 p.m., Ontario First United Methodist Church Choir, Christmas Eve Candlelight service, Ontario
8:00 p.m., First Christian Church, Communion and Candlelight Service with choir, Pomona
9:00 p.m., La Verne Church of the Brethren, Candlelighting Service, music of Kirchner and Rutter, La Verne
9:00 p.m., United Methodist Church of Cucamonga, anthems by Larson, Cucamonga
9:30 p.m. / 10:00 p.m., St. Anthony Catholic Church, Lessons and Carols with choir, 10 p.m. mass, Upland
10:00 p.m., St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Cantata “Uns ist ein Kind geboren,” Kuhnau, choir and string quartet, Claremont
10:00 p.m., First United Methodist Church, service with choir, Upland
10:30 p.m./11:00 p.m., St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 10:30 Christmas Eve Overture, then at 11 p.m., Choral Eucharist, Upland
11:00 p.m., Claremont United Church of Christ, ‘Hallelujah’ chorus, Handel, with congregation, Claremont
11:00 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, Christmas Eve Candlelight Service with choir, Upland
11:00 p.m., Grace Lutheran Church, Candlelight Carol Service, music of Bach, Upland
Christmas, Thursday, 25 December
10:00 a.m.., St. Joseph Catholic Church, English mass with choir, Upland
12:00 p.m.., St. Joseph Catholic Church, Spanish mass with choir, Upland