Music lovers will have to clone themselves.
Two great holiday concerts are set for Sunday, Dec. 15, at 4 pm.
The Queens College Choral Society will offer songs designed to inspire peace and unity – “Nelson Mass,” “Dona Nobis Pacem,” and “1001 Voices: A Symphony for a New America” – at Colden Auditorium in Flushing.
Austrian composer Joseph Haydn wrote “Nelson Mass” in 1798 during a period of extreme political strife in Europe. It’s also known as “Missa in Angustiis” (Mass for Troubled Times).
“Dona Nobis Pacem” is a plea for peace that English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote in 1936 as World War II was threatening to explode. It combines word s from the Latin Mass with poetry by Walt Whitman and selections from the Bible.
The concert ends with a local creation as “1001 Voices” is a project of Sunnyside Gardens-based EarSay (composer Frank London/librettist Judith Sloan). It reimagines Emma Lazarus’s poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty as an alternative national anthem.
Consisting of faculty members, students, and even unaffiliated local residents, the choral society is affiliated with The Aaron Copland School of Music and Queens College. For this concert, it will be joined by more than 200 high school and middle school singers from across the area, offering a vision of harmony and hope for the future.
General admission is $23. Colden Auditorium is at 153-49 Reeves Ave.
At the same time (4 pm), A Christmas Festival will begin at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Forest Hills.
With a focus on storytelling, the religious institution’s Sacred Music Society will perform selections from Handel’s “Messiah,” Christmas carols, and Hanukkah favorites under the conduction of Maestro David Close. John Easterlin, who is a tenor, will be a featured guest artist along with Paula Jean Rocheleau (soprano), Evan Katsefes (tenor), Regina J. Faighes (narrator), and Barbara Podgurski (piano and organ).
General admission is $30, but children (12 and under) can attend for free. Queen of Martyrs Church is at Ascan Avenue and Queens Boulevard.
Editor’s note: This is an extremely popular annual event that fills the large church, so buying tickets early is advised.
Top image: Our Lady Queens of Martyrs Sacred Music Society;
bottom image: Queens College Choral Society