NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State University Chamber Choir will present a virtual performance of the candlelight service of “Lessons and Carols” Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. The performance will be available at capa.nsula.edu/livestream. Dr. Nicholaus B. Cummins will conduct the Chamber Choir. This is the 30th consecutive year the NSU Chamber Choir has presented this service.
The “Lessons and Carols” is a service based upon a century-old tradition established at Kings College, Cambridge, in England, where it is performed every Christmas Eve to standing room only crowds and broadcast worldwide on the BBC. “Lessons and Carols” consists of nine lessons, readings for both the Old and New Testament of the Bible, all related to the Advent and birth of Christ. Following each lesson, the choir sings a text that relates to each of the readings.
Each December, the Chamber Choir performs their “Lessons and Carols” service. Normally, the performance is held at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.
The Northwestern Chamber Choir is the flagship choral ensemble at Northwestern State and is comprised of 32 undergraduates encompassing over 15 different majors throughout the university. The choir frequently collaborates with composers and conductors for projects including most recently “For a Breath of Ecstasy,” commissioned from composer Michael Trotta, “The Falling Stars” by Burchard, and “O Lux Beatissima” by Vytautas Miškinis. In 2019, they performed at the Eighth National Conference of the National Collegiate Choral Conference National Conference and placed third and won best compulsory performance in the AVE VERUM ICC in Baden, Austria. The choir was invited to perform in St. Martin’s Church in the Wall for the Czech national night of churches in Prague. In 2018, the choir placed second in the Laurea Mundi Budapest in Budapest, Hungary, and performed concerts in Krakow, Poland. The Chamber Choir plans to release a CD and iTunes recording of the music of Burchard in Fall 2021.
