photo by: Elvyn Jones

The voices of several school choirs join in a number at a recent Baker University Christmas Candlelight Vespers.

The Baker University Music and Theater Department will present a historical, musical Christmas revue for its 88th annual Christmas Candlelight Vespers, said Ryan Olsen, the Baker vocal music director.

The annual Vespers performances are scheduled for 2 and 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, in Rice Auditorium on Baker’s Baldwin City campus. Performing will be the Baker treble choir, concert choir and chamber singers under the direction of Olsen, as well as the Baker University orchestra and brass ensemble.

Olsen said this year’s theme is “The Work of Christmas,” and the concert will feature traditional carols and new music meant to encourage audience members to carry the meaning of the Christmas season beyond Christmas Day. Performances will be musicological journeys through the 12 days of Christmas, which showcase each day with a piece from a different era, he said.

Selections will include traditional carols like “In Dulci Jubilo” with brass, “Donkey Carol,” “Still, Still, Still,” “Silent Night” and other audience favorites, along with jazz standards like Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song,” Olsen said.