My Christmas ‘Things to Do’ list has been updated and I’m plotting.  One consistent woven throughout the next month and a half are the holiday concerts and community caroling events hosted by the churches and cathedrals sprinkled throughout the NJ/NY area.  While I’m sure most every church in most every town has a performance of sorts, I do have a ‘must go to’ list that I try to attend (try being the operative word; I’ve only caroled at the Basilica in Newark, which is a fantastic experience).  The events that made there way onto my ‘Things to Do’ list are below. It’s not an exhaustive list and is only focused on my local area; however I would love to hear about concerts in your area worth checking out.

Thursday, December 6th (8 pm): St Luke’s in the Field (Hudson Street, NYC) A Baroque Christmas in Rome

Saturday, December 8th (7 pm): St John the Divine (Amsterdam Ave @112th St NYC) Christmas Concert

Sunday, December 9th (2 pm): St. John the Baptist (Hillsdale, NJ) Fa La La Sing-a-long

Thursday, December 13th (5:30 pm): St. Thomas Church (NYC 53rd & 5th) A Ceremony of Carols

December 12th and 13th (8 pm): Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Newark, NJ) Christmas Singalong

December 15th (7:30 pm), 16th (2 pm), 23rd (2 pm), and 25th (2 and 5 pm), – St John the Divine Early Music New York:  Colonial Christmas

December 20th (7:30 pm), 21st (7:30 pm), and 22nd (2 pm and 7:30 pm),  – St. John the Divine Winter Solstice Concert (OK, not Christmas, but ’tis the season)

December 22nd (7:30 pm) and 23rd (3 pm) – Trinity Church Wall Street (Broadway at Wall St NYC) Community Carol Sing

Trinity Church does a yearly performance of Handel’s Messiah (as does St. Thomas and the Basilica in Newark) which I’ve always wanted to go to. The church presented one of the first performances of the work in North America in 1770 and, last year, the New York Times described Trinity’s performance as “perhaps the essential New York ‘Messiah.’” I’ve yet to go, however, did listen to it last year on WQXR, disappointingly arriving at the conclusion that I just don’t have the inner fortitude to sit through it (holy noise with one or two fabulous pieces spritzed throughout).

I’ll be baking for Thanksgiving over the weekend, making a pumpkin roll, #yummy, and apple pie, and ordering our food for the week in Massachusetts.  Yes, we vacillate between Amazon Fresh (a service I’m growing to love as it’s uber convenient) and the ‘old fashioned’ grocery store.

Until my next musings, I wish you and your loved one’s happy trails and bon appetite…