Philip Brunelle will conduct VocalEssence with special guest Mariachi de Tierra for Welcome Christmas.

It just doesn’t feel like Christmastime without choral music. But as luck has it, here in the Twin Cities we’re awash in renowned choruses, and it looks like they’re all putting on a holiday concert in the next two weeks. You can hear holiday music in medieval harmonies or Latin jazz, or partake of the season’s sacred staples. How about some early American Christmas carols, or maybe a family-oriented show?

See below: If it’s choir music you want, there’s something in this list sure to hit a sweet spot.

VocalEssence (a Knight Arts grantee), led by conductor Philip Brunelle, has a huge weekend of shows planned. The theme for this year’s Welcome Christmas concert line-up has a distinctly Latin swing. At the center of the program is jazz musician Dave Brubeck’s Christmas cantata, “La Fiesta de la Posada,” inspired by the Las Posadas festival of Mexico, Guatemala and the American Southwest, which celebrates the arduous passage of Mary and Joseph to the nativity stable. VocalEssence has recreated the jazz-inflected cantata with Brubeck’s original instrumentation and will feature pianist Dan Chouinard, as well as local mariachi band Mariachi Mi Tierra, in performance with the choral ensemble.

Part of the Welcome Christmas 2013 repertoire will include a performance of “La Fiesta de la Posada” in memory of the late composer, Dave Brubeck. Photo of Brubeck courtesy of VocalEssence.

The VocalEssence singers will also hold their annual family concert, “Star of Wonder,” an informal affair where kids of all ages (babies, too) are invited to sit up close – “listen, clap, dance and even sing” – as the chorus performs familiar holiday tunes, including a “goofy” sing-along version of the “Twelve Days of Christmas.”

VocalEssence’s 2013 Welcome Christmas concert has three showtimes remaining, on December 13, 14 and 15, with performances in Apple Valley, Edina and Minneapolis respectively. For the detailed program and specific times/venues, visit the choral ensemble’s website, www.vocalessence.org/christmas2013. “Star of Wonder,” a family-friendly concert by VocalEssence, will be Saturday, December 14 at 10 a.m. at Plymouth Congregational Church, 1900 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis. The performance has a one-hour run time.

Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus is presenting a “Star of Wonder” concert of their own, with special guest, Grammy Award-winning vocalist, Matt Alber (formerly of Chanticleer). The chorus worked with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. and Matt Alber to create brand new arrangements of beloved carols and pop holiday tunes, including “a mash-up of Lo, How a Rose and The Rose along with a stunning gospel interpretation of O Holy Night.” Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus’ “Star of Wonder” concert will take place December 13, 14 and 15 and the Ted Mann Concert Hall on the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus, 2128 Fourth Street So., Minneapolis. Find ticket information and more program details: tcgmc.org/concerts-events/star-of-wonder.

http://youtu.be/CL0ThLtD6f8

Cantus is offering a Christmas program filled with classical sacred fare, a mix of old and new, in a program paying homage to each person (and animal) in the Christmas story. Highlights in “Scenes from the Nativity” include “The Friendly Beasts,” “Coventry Carol” and Franz Biebl’s arrangement of the “Ave Maria.”

Cantus will perform “Scenes from the Nativity” from December 12 through 16 at various metro-area venues. The St. Paul performance is December 13 at 7:30 p.m. (Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave.); there are a few tickets remaining, but they’re going fast. For a full list of performances/venues for this Christmas with Cantus concert, visit the ensemble’s website: www.cantussings.org/2013/09/06/christmas-with-cantus-2013.

Next weekend, you can catch a Christmas program filled with Early American carols, performed by the wonderful Rose Ensemble in “And Glory Shone Around.” The songs will span 300 years of history and include “Shaker hymns, Colonial country dances, Kentucky harmonies, and joyful seasonal carols from across the North American landscape.”

“And Glory Shone Around” by the Rose Ensemble will be performed in various Twin Cities venues December 19 through 22. The choral ensemble will be in St. Paul Friday, December 20 at 8 p.m. at the Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church, 1900 Wellesley Ave. For a full schedule of performances, visit the website: www.roseensemble.org/shows/and-glory-shone-around.

http://youtu.be/dcvyiP3YLF8

Finally, a group new to me, The Mirandola Ensemble, will also perform a pair of Christmas concerts in Minneapolis and St. Paul next week. Based on what I’ve heard online, their harmonies are assured and tight, and the group slants toward medieval/Renaissance-era material. If you’re curious, too, you can catch their Christmas program, featuring new arrangements and original compositions written for the ensemble, next week.

The Mirandola Ensemble will perform in St. Paul’s On-the-Hill Episcopal Church, 1524 Summit Ave., on Tuesday, December 17 at 8 p.m. You can catch the group in Minneapolis on Monday, December 23 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1917 Logan Ave. South. Tickets for all shows are $15. For information, visit The Mirandola Ensemble’s website: www.themirandolaensemble.org