Christmas concert in the chapel

There's this incredible chapel on the campus of Mercersburg Academy, a private prep school in Penn., about an hour's drive from here. Even though it wasn't finished until 1928, it looks like it's always stood on that grassy knoll. The spire holds a carillon and is a replica of one at Oxford. Even the doors are works of art.  

And inside is a feast for the eyes and soul--the stained glass windows, the stone and wood, the huge organ, the way the light slants in. Now, imagine it filled with a full orchestra, a large choir and, as they say on Broadway, SRO.


Imagine further that the chapel was built for music, for sound to swell and echo to its great heights, then rebound to cocoon the listener in a way that  surround sound can only dream of. And now, close your eyes and imagine selections from "The Messiah," angelic voices soaring through that space, with the entire audience so reverent and quiet that we could all hear a pin drop. That was yesterday's Christmas concert at Mercersburg -- every bit as good or better than at any place I can think of. This is music, in a setting more lovely than any concert hall, that brings people back again and again, year after year.


Merry Christmas to me--from Bob and the choral group, the orchestra and directors, from all of the people who volunteer to make this an annual delight.