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���ϰٿ� hosts its 15th annual Christmas Festival, retelling the Christmas story by weaving narration with music from the ���ϰٿ� Orchestra, College Choir, Chamber Singers and Choral Union on Friday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 14, at 2 and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 15, at 3 p.m., all at First Presbyterian Church, 21 E. Constance Ave. Tickets cost $15 each and go on sale Thursday, Nov. 7, at . The performance, which typically sells out quickly, has become a holiday tradition for many area families.

Each year the program tells the Christmas story in a fresh way and from a new perspective featuring familiar carols and delightfully fresh compositions of the season. This year’s theme, “This Day,” is taken from Luke 2:11.

The College Choir opens the performance with “Hodie Christus natus est” by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and later “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” by Richard S. Willis (1819-1900) and arranged by Kirby Shaw. The orchestra, choirs and audience perform “Joy Has Dawned” by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, orchestrated by J. A. C. Redford.  ���ϰٿ� Chamber singers will perform “Go Tell It on the Mountain” by John Work (1901-1967).

“The theme is evocative of the transcendent joy of the Christmas story,” says director Michael Shasberger, Adams professor of music and worship and festival director.