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Mark your calendar for the annual Boston College Christmas tree lighting this Wednesday, Dec. 4, from 5-7 on the Plaza at O’Neill Library, and take part in the official launch of the campus holiday season. University President William P. Leahy, SJ, will officiate, and Santa Claus will be on hand for photos, against a backdrop of caroling by student musical groups (and cookies and cocoa).
The merry event sets the tone for other seasonal festivities at BC, including concerts in many musical genres, which follow throughout the month:
• Dec. 6 and 7 (8-10 p.m.), Dec. 8 show sold out: Trinity Chapel on the Newton Campus will be the venue for three concert performances by the University Chorale and Boston College Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Finney. Admission to the annual Christmas concert is $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Tickets are available via the Robsham Box Office; call ext.2-4002 or e-mail RTACTickets@bc.edu
• Dec. 10, 4-5:30 p.m.: Also under Finney’s direction, members of the University Chorale will present a free concert of Christmas music in Gasson 100. For information contact the Music Department at ext.2-6004 or e-mail concerts@bc.edu.
• Dec. 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m.: Accomplished singer, multi-instrumentalist and musicologist Mick Moloney (a former Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies) teams with fiddler Athena Tergis — who’s played with artists such as Sharon Shannon and Laura Risk and toured with “Riverdance” — for a musical celebration of Christmas and other midwinter traditions as part of the Gaelic Roots Music, Song, Dance and Lecture Series. The free concert takes place in Walsh Hall. See www.bc.edu/gaelicroots.
• Dec. 10, 8-10 p.m.: Holiday favorites such as “The Nutcracker,” “Sleigh Ride” and “A Christmas Festival” will ring out at the University Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band Annual Christmas Concert, conducted by Sebastian Bonaiuto. The free event will be held in Gasson 100. For information, contact the BC Bands Office at ext.2-3018 or bands@bc.edu
• Dec. 11, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.: The Volunteer and Service Learning Center, BC Neighborhood Center and BC Dining Services have once again joined forces to offer the popular Fair Trade Holiday Sale, which supports grassroots efforts for change in the developing world. Those who produce the goods available for purchase are paid a just wage for their labor, organizers note. Members of the BC community are encouraged to attend the fair — held on the second floor of Corcoran Commons — to learn more, support artisans and cooperatives, and to shop for beautiful and unusual products from around the world. For information, call VSLC at ext.2-1317, e-mail volunteer@bc.edu or see http://bit.ly/1bXMtiG.
• Dec. 14, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.: The Cadigan Alumni Center on Brighton Campus will be the setting for “Winter Wonderland,” an annual holiday event for alumni, family and friends. Activities include strolling carolers, crafts and gingerbread houses, entertainer Johnny the K, photos with Santa Claus, a live petting zoo and horse-drawn carriage rides. There will also be a special visit from award-winning author and illustrator Peter Hamilton Reynolds and the creator of The Misfit Sock storybook, Church in the 21st Century Center Associate Director Karen Kiefer ’82. Admission is $15 per adult; $5 per child; free for children under age three. Registration is available at http://bit.ly/19O7pnx.
• Dec. 21 (7:30-9 p.m.), Dec. 21 and 22 (3-4:30 p.m.): Robsham Theater Arts Center once again hosts “Christmas Reflections,” a celebration of the Christmas season though performances of music, story and dance. The production features choreography by Jesuit artist-in-residence Rev. Robert VerEecke, SJ, and Irish step dance choreography by Helen O’Dwyer ’97, who directs the O’Dwyer School of Irish Dancing. Admission to the event, sponsored by the Institute for the Liberal Arts and Robsham Theater, is $15. For information call ext.2-6110 or e-mail frvereec@bc.edu.