Christ & Holy Trinity Festival Of Lessons & Carols Celebrates Christmas
The 21st annual Festival took place on Sunday at Westport's Christ & Holy Trinity Church.This event celebrating the birth of Jesus has the sanctuary filled to capacity each year as the choir of C&HT performs traditional popular Christmas carols and religious songs along with readings from scripture.
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The event began when the choir entered the church by candlelight singing "Once in royal David's city", introduced by a boy chorister and accompanied by organist Jonathan Vaughan. As the service progressed, young choristers as well as adult singers were featured in several pieces, and cellist Cheryl Labrecque accompanied the choir in "Carol of the Magi" by John Rutter.
The lessons, which are readings from the Holy Bible from the books of Genesis, Isaiah, Luke, Matthew, and John were each read by a different member of the church, choir and community, including Connecticut State Senator Ceci Maher.
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Each lesson was followed by a carol sung by the 32-voice intergenerational choir, or a hymn sung by the congregation. All of the music sung, which spanned several centuries, was related to the biblical texts which preceded them, so some lyrics may have a more sacred connotation than the secular versions frequently heard. The tradition of Lessons & Carols dates back to the Church Of England in 1880. A special broadcast of the Festival from King's College, Cambridge, England will be aired by WSHU Public Radio at 91.1 FM on Christmas morning at 10:00 AM.
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On Christmas Eve at 3:00 CHT Church will present The Christmas Crèche, the birth of Jesus as told in story, movement and song headlined by Broadway star Kelli O'Hara, seven-time Tony nominee and winner of the 2015 Tony for Best Actress in a Musical.
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The sanctuary was filled for this special event. After the service, Santa directed guests downstairs to Branford Hall for refreshments and a wonderful array of homemade appetizers and delicious desserts.