by Mike Telin
For the past eleven years, Quire Cleveland’s Carols for Quire concerts have become a holiday tradition. Over the years, the program — which began with pairing old and new carols — has explored numerous facets of the festive songs that are sung around the world during the Christmas season.
“Carols for Quire VI” featured French Noëls while “Carols VIII” presented a multitude of languages including Finnish, Abenaki, Afro-Portuguese, Mohawk, and Wendat, as well as English, Latin, and Spanish. The ninth edition was titled “Carols of Yore,” and the tenth highlighted the “O Antiphons.” This year the program will examine the Christmas story from the point of view of the angels and shepherds.
On Thursday, December 1 at 7:30 pm at Our Lady of Peace Church in Cleveland, Jay White will conduct the ensemble in “Carols for Quire XII: Angels and Shepherds.” The program will be repeated on December 2 at 8:00 pm at St. John Cantius Church in Tremont, and on December 3 at 8:00 pm at St. Paschal Baylon Church in Highland Heights. The concerts are free. Click here to view the program booklet.
“Last year we focused on Mary,” White said during a telephone conversation. “We haven’t left Joseph out of the story — he’s been there every so often. But when I was looking at possible topics for this year, I started thinking about who received the message” — the news of the birth of Jesus — “after Mary had figured it out and she and Joseph went to Bethlehem. And it was the shepherds who received it from the angels. I was also thinking of how amazing it must have been for the shepherds to have witnessed this celestial event, with the angels telling them it was happening and they should go see it.” [Read more…]