Choirs join voices for annual 'Holiday Card to Tucson'

If you’re one of those folks who are scratching their heads asking how the heck we went from Fourth of July to Thanksgiving in what seemed like a minute, we’d like to put something else on your radar:

Christmas is less than a month away.

If you need a little push to get into the holiday spirit, mosey down to St. Augustine Cathedral on Sunday, Dec. 3, for the 24th annual “Holiday Card to Tucson” concert.

OK, before you go, you’ll need a ticket ($25). You might want to jump on that pretty soon; the concert, with an afternoon and evening performance, sells out every year.

We suspect we know why: It’s a chance to see some of the university and community’s best vocal talent delivering much-needed holiday cheer on one stage.

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This year’s multigenerational cast features the University of Arizona Symphonic Choir, University Community Chorus, University Singers, Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus and Tucson Girls Chorus singing everything from “Deck the Hall” to “Adeste” (“O’ Come, All Ye Faithful”) accompanied by handbells and organ or piano, or sung a capella.

The concert will include the groups performing on their own and in combination, and the program covers the gamut of classic holiday hits, including “Jingle Bells,” “Joy to the World” and “Silent Night.” There’s contemporary flashes, including Kevin Phillip Johnson’s arrangement of the traditional African-American spiritual “Children, Go Where I Send Thee” that includes rap crafted by Ayana Davis, works drawn from the classical canon with Gustav Holst’s Christmas carol “In the Bleak MidWinter” and Felix Mendelssohn’s “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

The “Holiday Card to Tucson” returns once again to St. Augustine Cathedral, 192 S. Stone Ave., where it has been held for more than a dozen years. Performances are at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, and they last around 90 minutes. Bonus: Audience members will have a couple of opportunities to sing along.

For details and tickets, visit music.arizona.edu/events/holiday-card.