Voices of Ascension will present its Candlelight Christmas Concerts at the Church of the Ascension, 36 Fifth Ave. at 10th Street, this December. Soprano Song Hee Lee will join the New York City professional chorus for the holiday tradition, now in its 37th year.
The concerts take place Wednesday, Dec. 9, Thursday, Dec. 10, Monday, Dec. 14 and Tuesday, Dec. 15, all at 7:30 p.m. The Dec. 10 performance will be recorded and broadcast on WQXR later in the month.
The program mixes ancient carols, seasonal masterworks, Christmas choral anthems and contemporary reflections on winter and light. The family-friendly concerts are held in the church’s Neo-Gothic space, lit by scores of candelabras and nearly 600 individual candles. Voices of Ascension will perform with the Manton Memorial Organ and guest soloists.
Lee is a Korean soprano and a 2026 Grand Finals winner of The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. This season she appears with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants in Paris and Luxembourg and makes her debut with Opera Omaha. She also tours with Il Pomo d’Oro and Joyce DiDonato in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Dennis Keene conducts, with Kevin Cobb on trumpet and Daniel Beckwith on organ.
Tickets and more information are available at voicesofascension.org/candlelight-christmas-concerts-2026.
The Christmas concerts follow the ensemble’s season opener, Grand Choral Opening: War & Requiem, on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m. at the same church. The program features Haydn’s Mass in Time of War and Fauré’s Requiem in D Minor. The 2026-27 season is called The Radiant Depths.
Voices of Ascension was founded in 1990 by Keene, who remains artistic director and conductor and serves as organist and choirmaster of the Church of the Ascension. The Grammy-nominated ensemble has recorded several albums and collaborated with the San Francisco Symphony, the Mark Morris Dance Group, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Its Voices of Promise program has supported more than 50 young professional vocal soloists, and its Voices of Experience program brings choral music to New York City senior centers.
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