Photo by Curtis Finger
Ragazzi Boys Chorus celebrates the holiday season this weekend with "Welcome Winter/Winter Solstice" — music from various cultures, marking Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Native American celebration, and more.
The concerts are held Dec. 1 at the First Congregational Church in Palo Alto, and Dec. 2 at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont.
The chorus will reprise the concert on Dec. 9 at Old First Church in San Francisco.
The program includes traditional carols, such as Little Drummer Boy (arranged by Katherine K. Davis), Native American chant mixed with Amazing Grace, the boy choir standard Jesus Christ the Apple Tree (by Elizabeth Poston), and the Hanukkah tune Unending Flame (by Paul Carey, with Ben Silverman, clarinet).
Also on the program: Grassi Lakes by Allen Gordon Bell, Pie Jesu by Andrew Lloyd Weber Solstice by Randall Thompson, Betelehemu by Babatunde Olatunji, arranged by Wendell Whalum; and Laudate Pueri by Mendelssohn.