In a department store two days ago, I was standing in a long line at a cash register, watching a Christmas hire fumble items past the barcode reader while the people in front of me craned their necks to see what was holding things up and the line behind me got longer and longer.

As Tom Petty truly noted, the waiting was the hardest part, and what made it exponentially harder was the insipid pseudo-Christmas music that poured pitilessly out of the PA system. It was not music to be listened to, qua music, and it was certainly not music to connect us with any of our Christmases past; it was just music to lubricate our shopping. Stalled as I was in the line, it had the opposite effect on me. Has anyone, ever, had “A Holly-Golly Christmas”?

If this has happened to you lately, you might want to purify your audio system with an influx of sublimely, exquisitely real Christmas music of the sort which the Quire of Voyces produces in gratifying abundance.

As it happens, the Quire, under founder and director Nathan Kreitzer, will be performing their eagerly awaited Christmas concerts, called “Song of Songs,” this very weekend — at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 21 in the acoustically vibrant St. Anthony’s Chapel at the Garden Street Academy, 2300 Garden St.

This year, the Quire promises “a gorgeous array of choral gems by composers both ancient and modern, from Palestrina, to Durufle, to as-yet unheard, commissioned works by award-winning composers Daniel Brinsmead and Michael Eglin.” They urge us to “let yourself be swept away by an exquisite collection of works based on the true meaning of Christmas.”

If you have ever been to a Quire concert, you probably already have your tickets. If you haven’t heard them yet, you won’t believe what a treat you have in store.

Tickets are $20 for general admission and $15 for students and seniors, and they can be purchased at the Garvin Theatre box office (City College West Campus) by phone at 805.965.5935 or at the door.

— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributing writer. He can be reached at gerald.carpenter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are his own.