The service of Lessons and Carols in West Hartford will feature the Saint James’s Choir.

St. James’s Chorister Sam Sadler gets ready for Lessons and Carols on Sunday, December 6 at 5 p.m. Photo credit Curtis Farr

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Saint James’s Choir will celebrate Advent with a service of Lessons and Carols on Sunday, Dec. 6, at 5 p.m.

Lessons and Carols is a traditional Anglican liturgy created at St. John’s College, Cambridge, England. This year, the carols will feature several works of living composers, including Colin Mawby, James MacMillan, Malcolm Archer, and local composer and choral conductor Ellen Gilson Voth, conductor of the Farmington Valley Chorale.

In addition to the many choral works, the congregation will be invited to join the choir for traditional Advent hymns.

Saint James’s Choir is a multi-generational ensemble of boys and girls from third grade through high school, and both professional and volunteer adults. The boy and girl choristers rehearse twice during the school week, preparing a minimum of three individual pieces of choral music for every Sunday during the school year, as well as for special liturgies, concerts and events.

Most recently, the choir provided the chorus for Connecticut Concert Opera’s production of Tosca. The high standard of music making and commitment level make it one of the few remaining choirs of its kind in the State of Connecticut.

For Episcopalians and Roman Catholics, the church year begins four Sundays before Christmas with the season of Advent – a period of waiting which begins with the Annunciation (the Angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she will give birth to Jesus Christ) and continues till Christmas (Christ’s birth).

St. James’s Episcopal Church is located in West Hartford center, 1018 Farmington Ave. It is a free event and open to people of all faith backgrounds and traditions.