"Holidays at Westminster" will usher in the holiday season at Westminster Choir College. Performances will range from opera and early music to traditional choral concerts and jazz performances. Unless noted, all performances will be held in the Bristol Chapel on the Westminster campus in Princeton.

The series will begin on Friday, December 3 at 8 p.m., with a performance entitled "Cool Yule Jazz II." The show will feature jazz arrangements of holiday standards performed by Philip Orr, piano; Jerry Rife, clarinet; and friends. Both Orr and Rife are Rider University faculty members. Orr is well known for his wide-ranging keyboard skills, and Rife is also the musical director of the Blawenberg Band. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for senior citizens and students.

The Westminster Concert Bell Choir, conducted by Kathleen Ebling-Thorne, will present three concerts. Saturday, December 4 at 8 p.m. and Sunday December 5 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., the ensemble will perform arrangements of tradition holiday works and original compositions on the world's largest set of handbells. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for senior citizens and students.

Westminster Opera Theater will perform Humperdinck's Hänsel and Gretel on Friday, December 10 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, December 11 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and on Sunday, December 12 at 3 p.m. in the Playhouse on Westminster's campus in Princeton. Sung in English, this storybook production evokes a magic world of woodland spirits and candy dreams. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens and students.

Friday, December 10 and December 11 at 8 p.m. Westminster will present its annual "Evening of Readings and Carols" in the Princeton University Chapel. An inspiring evening filled with pageantry, the event will feature performances by several choirs, organs, and brass, alternating with readings that reflect the season and the diversity of the community. Audience members are invited to participate by singing traditional Christmas Carols. Tickets are $35 for preferred seats, $20 for reserved seats, and $15 transept seats.

Saturday, December 11 at 2 p.m. the Westminster Conservatory Children's Choir will present its annual Family Christmas Concert. Conducted by Patricia Thel, the program will feature music of the season for children's voices and audience participation. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for senior citizens and students.

Saturday, December 18 at 8 p.m. the Westminster Community Chorus and Chamber Choir, conducted by Devin Mariman, will present their holiday concert entitled "In Sweet Joy." The program will include Buxtehude's In dulci jubilo, Charpentier's In nativitatem Domini nostril, and Finzi's Magnificat. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for senior citizens and students.

Sunday, December 19 and Monday, December 20 at 8 p.m. Fuma Sacra Westminster's ensemble-in-residence, conducted by Andrew Megill, will present Noël Nouvelet: Christmas in Ancient France. Admission is $20 for adults and $15 for students and senior citizens.

All tickets sales are final-no refunds or exchanges. Tickets can be obtained only during box office hours. Westminster's box office will be open November 1 through 5 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Beginning November 8, regular box office hours will be weekdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The box office is in Williamson Hall on the Westminster campus on the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Walnut Lane in Princeton. Please call 609-921-2663 for more information.

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