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SAVE THE DATES!  

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Old North Festival Chorus | Holiday Concerts 2026

Saturday, December 5, 2026, 8pm

Sunday, December 6, 2026, 7:30pm
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ADVERTISE in the Festival Chorus Program Book!
(download PDFs of the Rate Sheet and Instructions HERE)
 

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ORDER TICKETS HERE!

(tickets will go on sale on November 1, 2026)

 

The 46th annual Old North Festival Chorus Christmas Concerts—presented each year in Marblehead as part of the festive Christmas Walk—will take place on Saturday, December 5 at 8pm, and Sunday, December 6 at 7:30pm in the sanctuary of the historic Old North Church Meeting House, 35 Washington Street, Marblehead, MA.  Celebrating her 38th season as Director of the Festival Chorus, the 80 voices of the Festival Chorus and full Orchestra will be led by Maria van Kalken, Minister of Music at Old North Church.  The centerpiece of the December 2026 Festival Chorus Concerts will be a stunningly beautiful Christmas Mass (Missa per il Sanctissimo Natale di Nostro Signore) composed by Giovanni Alberto Ristori, a contemporary of Vivaldi.  The program will also include excerpts from J.S. Bach’s magnificent Christmas Oratorio, and in honor of the ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of America, music by American composers and arrangers, including spirituals, jazz arrangements, and culminating with the beloved A Musicological Journey Through the Twelve Days of Christmas by Craig Courtney.  As always, the Festival Chorus program will include traditional music of the season with audience participation, and all accompanied by the outstanding Old North Festival Orchestra. This season’s ensemble of superb Old North soloists includes: Anne Burgett, soprano; Holly Cameron, soprano; and Kevin Hayden, tenor – all veterans of Old North’s Senior Choir and Music Program and returning after numerous previous seasons. 

 

Picturesque Marblehead offers the perfect backdrop at holiday time for the popular Festival Chorus concerts.  The entire town is transformed into an enchanted village, with shop owners offering hot cider and cheer, plenty of holiday music to delight shoppers, and the not-to-be-missed Festival Chorus concerts.

 

The Festival Chorus gathers Old North’s Senior Choir together with enthusiastic singers—amateur to professional—from many neighboring communities in Marblehead.  Each season, the Festival Chorus welcomes new voices while maintaining a devoted ensemble from previous years; this season’s Chorus totals over eighty participants.  Encouraged by a love for music and a reputation as the North Shore’s most spirited and talented volunteer choirs, the Festival Chorus & Orchestra has been lauded for its outstanding performances of major choral works each year.

 

Director Maria van Kalken holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from the Oberlin and New England Conservatories of Music—primarily under the tutelage of the late Yuko Hayashi and Donald Teeters—and has amassed an education abroad in Amsterdam (Holland) and Pistoia (Italy).

 

Tickets for Festival Chorus performances are priced at $35 and may be purchased in advance (starting November 1, 2026) at the following Marblehead business locations: Arnould Gallery, Maria’s Gourmet at Village Plaza, and Crosby’s Marketplace; tickets may also be purchased on line at www.onchurch.org/festivalchorus.  The performances will be approximately 90 minutes, with one 15-munite intermission.

 

To reserve tickets in advance by telephone, or for additional information, please call 781-608-2782; information is also available on the Old North Festival Chorus website: www.oldnorthfestivalchorus.org

 

The Old North Festival Chorus is supported, in part, by a grant from the Marblehead Cultural Council as administered through the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

 

Old North Church is accessible for the physically impaired.

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Memories of recent Festival Chorus performances...