DARK / LIGHT

A Feast of Carols

Saturday, December 12, 2026 - 2pm & 5pm

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

22 E. Chestnut Hill Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19118

The Christmas story has always held both the isolation of a cold night far from home, and the hope that breaks through it. This concert lives in that duality, moving between shadow and radiance across a program spanning the centuries, from new works by living composers to  treasured holiday carols..

At the heart of the afternoon is the world premiere of Harold Burgmayer's In Thy Dark Streets Shineth,  a meditation on the light that finds its way into even the darkest corners of our lives. It joins other new and recent works by composers Sarah Quartel, Saunder Choi, Ben Ponniah, Rex Isenberg, and others, alongside beloved choral chestnuts that trace the emotional range of the winter season: Mendelssohn's Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and There Shall a Star Come Out of Jacob, Handel's triumphant Hallelujah Chorus, and quiet gems like Poston's Jesus Christ the Apple Tree and Grüber's Silent Night.

Joined by Timberdale Brass, organist Andy Kotylo, and pianist Ting Ting Wong, Mendelssohn Chorus fills St. Paul's Episcopal Church with music both intimate and resplendent — a feast, in every sense, for the darkest and most hopeful days of the year.