Most of this month’s endless series of holiday concerts rely on familiar formulas to cash in on the spirit of the season. At the same time, there are some genuinely interesting Advent and Christmas programs out there for those who want to receive their dose of December cheer without falling asleep.
BACH FOR ADVENT:
>> Prepare yourself for Christmas with one of Bach’s cantatas on Advent chorales, both of them performed at free concerts this week. First, members of the Washington Bach Consort will perform BWV 61, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, on its regular Tuesday Noontime Cantata series at Church of the Epiphany (1317 G St. NW). December 2 (whoa, that’s today!), 12:10 p.m.
>> Then on Thursday the University of Maryland School of Music devotes its Bach Cantata Series to BWV 140, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, at the Clarice Smith Center in College Park. December 4, 1:30 p.m.
CHRISTMAS IN OLD SPAIN:
>> What will most likely be the best Christmas concerts of the month are both devoted to Christmas music from medieval and Renaissance Spain. On the subscription series sponsored by the Friends of Music at Dumbarton Oaks, the Boston Camerata will present its program Brotherhood of the Star: A Hispanic Christmas, combining music made in Spain, Catalonia, and the New World from 1300 to 1700. December 7, 7 p.m.; December 8, 8 p.m.
>> The Folger Consort will present a concert program called Spanish Christmas, devoted to motets, villancicos, and instrumental music from 17th- and 18th-century Spain. The Concord Ensemble, lutenist Charles Weaver, and keyboard player Webb Wiggins will join in the performance in the decorated theater of the Folger Shakespeare Library (201 E. Capitol St. SE). December 12 to 21, various times.
ALSO WORTH NOTE:
>> The annual Norwegian Christmas Festival comes again to the National Gallery of Art‘s free concert series, with a program presented by the New York Opera Society and soloists from Norway. December 14, 6:30 p.m.
>> If you want to do some singing yourself, drop in for the regular holiday caroling sessions at the National Gallery of Art under the West Building Rotunda. December 13, 14, 20, 21 at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m.
