The 33rd Annual Festival of Lessons & Carols returns to Holy Rosary Church Friday, Dec. 16, at 7:30 p.m.

The Northwest Boychoir celebrates this tradition with the presentation of its 2011 Christmas Concert with nine regional performances December 9 - 21. The concerts showcase the combined chorus of the Northwest Boychoir and Vocalpoint! Seattle. Presented by Seattle Symphony, the Northwest Boychoir will perform its final concert of the season with members of the Northwest Sinfonia on December 21 at Benaroya Hall.

Patterned after the Christmas Eve observance at King’s College in Cambridge, England, A Festival of Lessons & Carols has become a holiday tradition in the greater Seattle area with nine holiday readings, each followed by a traditional carol performed by the choir, and another carol sung by the choir and audience.

Five West Seattle youth will participate. They include:

Jackson Cecil (Age 10)
Janelle Maroney (Age 16)
Cael Mulligan (Age 10)
Connor Steen (Age 14)
Hayden Wainwright (Age 10)

(Janelle Maroney is with Vocalpoint! Seattle.)

Also, West Seattle's Maria Johnson is Northwest Boychoir Executive Director, and instructor of boys age 6 to 8. She lives near West Seattle High School where she attended. (She also attended Roosevelt.) The West Seattle Herald featured her poodle, Stoli, in our Pet of the Week column here.

As a child I remember seeing the Festival of Lessons & Carols," Johnson fondly recalled."I think they performed at Westside Presbyterian Church. I also saw the Northwest Boychoir at age 7 at the West Seattle Public Library, so it's funny for me to now be their executive director."

Their concert director of 27 years is Joseph Crnko, pronounced "Krinko".

"We have been performing at Holy Rosary since the early 1990's and recorded one of our Christmas albums Our Finest Gifts there because the acoustics there are so beautiful, perfect for the Boychoir sound," Johnson said. "We generally sell out at Holy Rosary by the day of the concert because people come from all over Seattle to experience the choir there."

Johnson said she is asked a lot whether the choir is a religious organization.

"We area a nonreligious affiliated nonprofit, private organization," she said. "We have people from different faiths, and those who don't specify religion. We perform Lessons and Carols because it is a tradition since the early 1900's in Kings College in Cambridge where they continue to perform it there. It's a beautiful celebration of Christmas and there are nine lessons that lead up to the Nativity Story. It's become a tradition for many, like those who go to Nutcracker or a Christmas Carol for their spiritual Christmas tradition."

The choir features boys ages 9 to 18. The Vocalpoint! Seattle group includes about 20 high school female singers, and there will be 95 teams total.

"I was in the group when I was in the Vocalpoint! Seattle group in high school," said Johnson. "I'm from a family of girls, and there were not a lot of boy choir opportunities, so it was great to become a member of that group."

Holy Rosary Church
4202 SW Genesee St.

To purchase tickets, visit: http://www.nwchoirs.org/tickets.php?key=470

Again, Maria Johnson suggests those interested purchase tickets in advance as the Holy Rosary Concert traditionally sells out the day of the concert.

Venues include:

Our Lady of the Lake Parish, Friday, Dec. 9
St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Sat., Dec. 10
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Sun., Dec. 11
Holy Rosary Church, Fri., Dec. 16
Trinity Lutheran Church, Sat., Dec. 17
St. Alphonsus Church in Ballard, Sun., Dec. 18
Saint Mark's Cathedral, Mon., Dec. 19 & Tues., Dec. 20

Benaroya Hall Presented by Seattle Symphony Featuring Members of the Northwest Sinfonia, Wed., Dec. 21