It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas.

And if you find yourself in Queens next weekend, you might want to stop by my parish to hear great, truly great, holiday music. It’s our 25th annual Christmas concert: the first half is too haute to Handel (“Messiah,” you know), and the second is a collection of familiar carols. But somehow that doesn’t do it justice. To sit there in that huge church with a massed choir and full orchestra is to feel, for just a brief time, like you aren’t in Queens. You’re in Carnegie Hall. It’s just that good. It’s Sunday at 4 pm. As an added bonus: if you stop by, you can meet Your Humble Blogger. (That’ll keep people away in droves, I know…)

Meanwhile, a few miles to the north of me, they’re welcoming Gregory Norbet for a concert. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, his music will. He’s the composer who gave the world “Hosea,” a Lenten liturgical standard (and one that fits in just as well, actually, during Advent.) That’s on Sunday the 14th and Monday the 15th.