Every year about this time, City College’s Quire of Voyces, under the direction of founder Nathan Kreitzer, transforms itself from one of the finest a cappella choruses on the West Coast into the most exquisitely-trained band of carolers ever to stand on our lawns and serenade us blissfully into the holidays.

If they came on in brightly colored woolen mufflers and stocking caps they couldn’t be more convincing. 

The concerts are called the Mysteries of Christmas; the “Mysteries” part doubtless having more to do with I Corinthians‘ “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, … ” than with something to be sorted out by Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot, so we will not be expected to fully understand the spiritual forces at work, but only to close our eyes and feel the advent settling into our souls. 

This year’s “Mysteries” will be revealed at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 14-15, in St. Anthony’s Chapel at the Garden Street Academy, 2300 Garden St. The program will include:

“Hodie” and  “Infant Holy (NEW)” by Stephen Dombek (the Quire’s composer-in-residence); “Away in a Manger” and “What Child Is This?” by Matthew Culloton; “There Stood in Heaven a Linden Tree” by Susan LaBarr; “Lully, Lulla” by Kenneth Leighton (Nichole Dechaine, solo); “Of the Father’s Love” by Becky McGlade; “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” and “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” by Matthew Culloton; “The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came” (arranged by Susan LaBarr); and “Silent Night” by Sir Malcolm Sargent.

Quire of Voyces will offer a Short Program version of the “Mysteries” at 6:30 p.m. on First Thursday, Dec. 5, in Luddington Court at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

Composer, conductor, educator and powerful influence, Culloton is the founding artistic director of The Singers – Minnesota Choral Artists based in Minneapolis. He holds degrees from Concordia College (B.M) and the University of Minnesota (M.M. & D.M.A.).

“Matthew Culloton (b. 1976) brings a love of shared community singing, exacting musical standards, and an engaging sense of humor to the podium,” says his website. “He exhibits an uncanny ability to shape and trust in the individual artistry of the musicians in front of him, resulting in stirring moments of musical synergy and soul.

“Beloved composer Morten Lauridsen wrote to him, ‘Your glorious performances still resound in my ear and in my heart … it was my great honor to have you do my music, which could not have been in finer hands.'”

For more about Maestro Culloton, visit his website, https://matthewculloton.com/about/

Tickets to this concert can be obtained at the Garvin Theater Box Office, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 721 Cliff Drive, and Chaucer’s Books until noon Friday Dec. 13.

To stay in touch, sign up on the email list, and for more information, visit www.quireofvoyces.org