St. Agnes Cathedral choirs set to perform at the annual Christmas concert

“O Come, All Ye Faithful” and celebrate the spirit of the season with the joyful melodies and harmonies of the St. Agnes Cathedral choirs at the 11th annual Advent and Christmas concert on Friday night.

“It’s a pretty popular event,” Michael Bower, St. Agnes’s musical director for nearly 40 years, said. “Our music program is kind of famous.”

Beneath the grand arches of the cathedral, the sound of more than 125 members of the renowned Boys’ Choir, Senior Girls’ Choir, the Master Chorale, Schola Cantorum, the Cathedral Singers and Cathedral Chorale — the latter of which is comprised of more than 70 men and women — along with soloists and orchestra musicians will come alive in what promises to be a one-of-a-kind musical spectacle.

The performance will showcase an eclectic mix of holiday classics including “O Holy Night,” “We Three Kings,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” and Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” It will also feature more contemporary compositions, such as “Advent Processional,” which Bower says sounds medieval but was actually written in the 1980s, and “Once in Royal David’s City,” made famous by the Choir of King’s College at the University of Cambridge.

“It promises to be a great night and a great celebration,” Bower said. “Everybody is invited.”

The event also has theatrical elements, he added, with actors dressed in costume who will interact with the audience. And members of the choirs will perform in different parts of the church to create a surround-sound atmosphere.

“Everyone loves Christmas music,” Bower said. “It’s a magical time.”

The annual celebration began in 2012, after more than 100 members from the St. Agnes Cathedral choirs and their families traveled to Italy to sing in such hallowed venues as St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican; San Lorenzo, in Florence; and St. Mark’s, in Venice.

While the choirs traditionally perform hymns for church services, the Christmas concert gives its members more of an opportunity to showcase their talents with holiday music.

“This time of year, people are looking for something like this,” Bower said. “Something special to do with their spouse and family.”

Thomas Lee, 10, is a fifth-grader at the St. Agnes Cathedral School who sings in the Boys’ Choir.

“I’ve been in the choir for three years,” Thomas said. “Grandma said that singing is like praying twice.”

Of the more than 125 singers set to perform, several — including Thomas — are students of St. Agnes or the Rockville Centre public schools.

Some of the other performers in the different choral groups at St. Agnes also come from Manhattan, Albany and Princeton, New Jersey to perform.

The St. Agnes Cathedral choirs practiced with members of the chamber orchestra on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday nights in preparation for the concert, Thomas said.

Thomas’ mother, Meaghan Lee, added that Bower does an excellent job of coordinating the choirs and mixing a wide range of vocal talent.

“This whole season is such a hectic time,” Bower said. “New York is stressful.” He added of the concert, “It’s a chance to be calm, and a chance to center yourself and remember what the holidays are all about.”

He hinted that there might be a few surprises on Friday night as well, and said there was no way of knowing who might show up, given the event’s popularity.

Proceeds will go toward the St. Agnes music program’s planned trip to Paris in 2025, which will include performances at the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the Chapel at Versailles.

This year’s Advent and Christmas Concert, “Stay Awake, Watch, Make Ready the Way of the Lord,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at St. Agnes. There is a suggested donation of $25. For ticket information and reservations, call (516) 764-9578, ext. 201.