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Annual
Christmas Vespers Always Popular
The annual Christmas Vespers
programs, always a much-anticipated event in the Smith community,
tell the story of Advent through hymns and other anthems,
prayers and scripture readings. The event is a festive time
in which the Smith and local communities come together in
the spirit of the holiday season.
This year’s Christmas Vespers programs will be held
on Sunday, December 5, at 4 and 7:30 p.m. in John M. Greene
Hall.
The services will be led by Jennifer Walters, Dean of Religious
Life, and by Elizabeth Carr, Catholic chaplain, and Leon Tilson
Burrows, Protestant chaplain, with readings by members of
the faculty, staff and senior class.
The music portion of the programs will feature the Smith College
Chorus, Glee Club, Chamber Singers, Handbell Choir, and Orchestra,
along with the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Men’s
Glee Club, performing works by Benjamin Britten and Ron Jeffers.
Selections will also include two world premieres: The
People that Walked in Darkness, by Clifton J. Noble Jr.,
and Advent Lullaby, by Carol Muehlig, as well as
a setting of a poem by Linda Muehlig, associate director of
the Museum of Art, and the perennial favorite, Betelehemu,
arranged by Wendell Whalum.
Jonathan Hirsh and Deanna Joseph will direct the choral and
instrumental groups, and Anita Cooper will conduct the Handbell
Choir. The WPI Men’s Glee Club is directed by John Delorey.
Donations will be accepted by ushers upon exit. Donated funds
will be given to the Hampshire Interfaith Cot Shelter Program.
Preludes begin 20 minutes before each performance.
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