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Holiday music brightens the season

By Mark Longaker
December 2, 2007

The Turtle Island String Quartet, consisting of (from the left) Mads Tolling, David Balakrishnan, Mark Summer and Jeremy Kittel, will present a "Solstice Celebration" concert Wednesday night at the Music Center at Strathmore.

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... down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

— Susan Cooper

From "The Shortest Day"

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Sankta Lucia, Devali, — the celebration of light during the darkest days unites families and friends worldwide in bright festivities. The universal desire to push back the dark reveals itself in a varied cornucopia of music and dance across the Washington region this holiday season.

Choral groups pull out all the stops, from the 160-voice Master Chorale of Washington and its candlelight processional to smaller groups such as the National Men's Chorus and Voices XXI, which blends ancient and modern music. Brass bands strike up amid the holly and mistletoe. Folk musicians draw on solstice traditions as groups including the Barnes and Hampton Celtic Consort and Ireland's Teada present special Christmas concerts.

Above all, it is a time for connecting with family and friends or reaching out to someone new. The power of music and dance to unite people of all ages and persuasions reveals itself in a closer look at some area presentations.

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