Sacred music, seasonal favorites and memorable moments filled St. Agnes Cathedral as the annual holiday concert drew a large crowd for an evening-long celebration of Christmas under the direction of Michael Bower, director of music at St. Agnes.
Billed as “Stay Awake! Watch! and Make Ready the Way of the Lord — Preparation for the Birth of Christ,” the musical presentation featured the Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, the Senior Girls Choir, the Diocesan Boys/Teens Choir of Rockville Centre, the Cathedral Chorale, Master Chorale 2013, Schola Cantorum, Cathedral Singers, along with soloists and an orchestra.
“It’s mainly volunteer people that are in St. Agnes,” Bower said. “We’ve become pretty famous, so people actually travel to perform with us. I had one singer that comes down from Albany, others are from Manhattan. They love singing in a really good choir. It’s really special to sing all of the Christmas songs.”
The Dec. 12 concert opened with “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” immediately setting a reverent tone inside the cathedral. The program moved through a wide-ranging selection of sacred and seasonal works, from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata 140 to traditional carols and contemporary compositions, performed by multiple choirs in various configurations with a chamber orchestra.
One of the early highlights came during “We Three Kings,” which featured handbells, a bell tree and a procession of the Magi through the cathedral. Members of the audience joined the combined choirs for the hymn, reinforcing the communal spirit that carried throughout the evening.
Additional standout performances included the Cathedral Senior Girls Choir on “The Angel Gabriel,” as well as the chamber orchestra’s rendition of Handel’s “Pastoral Symphony” from Messiah. Treble soloist Janek Alcruz was featured on “Once in Royal David’s City.”
One of the evening’s most dramatic moments came during the “Hallelujah Chorus.” During the iconic piece, the three Magi — portrayed by Michael Samedy, Glenn Bogosian and Daniel Eggermann — rose during the “King of Kings” passages and walked to the altar, adding a striking visual element to the performance.
Following intermission, soprano Heidi Resky delivered a moving performance of “O Holy Night.” Resky, a choir teacher at a Long Island City high school and a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, was joined on the program by her husband, Ryan, a professional trumpet player who performs regularly on Broadway and at Radio City Music Hall, and their son, bass vocalist Zachary.
“It’s such a cool thing when the whole family is able to perform in the same concert,” Bower said.
Many of the performers that night reunited for the holiday concert after traveling together on a concert tour to Paris earlier this year.
“To bring everyone together again meant a lot,” he said. “It was almost like a reunion, like rekindling that energy we had when we were in France.”
The concert concluded with John Williams’ “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas,” sending the audience into the night with a sense of joy and reflection.
Bower said the momentum from the performance should carry into the next major project at St. Agnes — a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 on May 29.
