In this season of shortening days and lengthening nights, we gather to listen. We turn to words and melodies that have traveled across centuries, cultures, and traditions. Christmas with Kinnara is not a retelling of a single story. It is an invitation into the human experience that surrounds this time of year: the hush of winter, the surprise of light, the quiet work of wonder.
Tonight’s program moves through four meditative spaces. We begin in Mystery, where ancient texts and modern voices lean toward the unexplainable and the moment when stillness seems to open into something larger than ourselves. From there we move into Witness, which reflects the humility and tenderness of those who learn simply by looking and listening. Journey reminds us that we are seekers who are guided by glimmers of hope, intuition, and dawning light. And in Joy, we arrive at a place of openness and renewal. This final space offers a generous vision of what it means to live with courage and wholeheartedness.
The readings, drawn from Rumi, the Ute people, David Wagoner, and Rabindranath Tagore, follow these themes alongside the music. Together they offer four distinct ways of encountering the season: contemplative, attentive, searching, and finally, expansive.
May this evening invite you into stillness and warmth, into curiosity and brightness, and into a deeper sense of the light that persists even in the quietest winter night.
prologue
-
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that morns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel,
to thee shall come Emmanuel!O come, Thou Wisdom, from on high,
and order all things far and nigh;
to us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel,
to thee shall come Emmanuel!O come, Desire of the nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind;
bid every strife and quarrel cease
and fill the world with heaven's peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel,
to thee shall come Emmanuel!
This opening set rests in the profound stillness at the heart of winter. Poulenc’s O Magnum Mysterium opens with haunting serenity, inviting us into a sound world shaped by luminous awe. Judith Weir’s Drop Down Ye Heavens from Above lifts that stillness into longing, stretching toward the hope of breakthrough. Pärt’s Magnificat follows with crystalline simplicity, suspended in timeless, inward focus. The set concludes with Willcocks’s arrangement of Gabriel’s Message, which brings a warm and familiar glow into the unfolding mystery.Rumi’s poem “The Guest House” frames this entire set as an invitation to openness. Mystery becomes not something to resolve, but something to welcome with curiosity and tenderness.
READING: The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
–Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi (13th century)
I. Mystery
-
O great mystery
and wonderful sacrament
that even the animals saw the newborn Lord
lying in a manger.
Blessed Virgin, whose womb
was worthy to bear
our Lord Christ. -
Drop down ye heavens from above,
and let the skies pour down righteousness.
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people;
my salvation shall not tarry.
I have blotted out as a thick cloud,
thy transgressions:
Fear not, for I will save thee;
For I am the Lord thy God,
the holy one of Israel,
thy redeemer.
Drop down ye heavens from above,
and let the skies pour down righteousness. -
My soul magnifies the Lord.
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden.
Behold, from henceforth, I will be called blessed
by all generations.
For the Mighty One has done
great things for me, and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm,
He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel
in remembrance of his mercy.
According to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever. -
The angel Gabriel from heaven came,
his wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame;
" All hail," said he, "thou lowly maiden Mary,
most highly favoured lady," Gloria!"For know a blessed Mother thou shalt be,
all generations laud and honour thee,
thy Son shall be Emmanuel, by seers foretold,
most highly favoured lady," Gloria!Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head,
" To me be as it pleaseth God," she said,
" my soul shall laud and magnify his holy Name."
Most highly favoured lady, Gloria!Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ, was born
in Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn,
and Christian folk throughout the world will ever say--
" Most highly favoured lady," Gloria!
This set turns our attention outward toward quiet observation and humility. Poulenc’s Quem vidistis pastores dicite opens with the sense of a question carried into the still air, followed by Bob Chilcott’s The Shepherds’ Carol, which offers a gentle, human glimpse of wonder. Eleanor Whitsett’s Where Shepherds Lately Knelt continues this reflective perspective with warmth and sincerity, and Willcocks’s See Amid the Winter’s Snow brings the set into the familiar cadence of communal song, shaded with tenderness. The Ute prayer “Earth Teach Me Quiet” places this witness in the context of creation itself. Its lines ask the natural world to teach humility, courage, renewal, and acceptance. Here, witnessing becomes a posture of listening deeply to the world as it is.
READING: Ute prayer
Earth teach me quiet, as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering, as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility, as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring, as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage, as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation, as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom, as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance, as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal, as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself, as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness, as dry fields weep with rain.
–Ute Prayer of the Indigenous people of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau
II. witness
-
What have you seen, shepherds?
Speak and proclaim to us, who has appeared on earth.
We have seen a newborn child and a choir of angels praising the Lord.
Tell, what you have seen and proclaim Christ's birth. -
We stood on the hills, Lady,
Our day’s work done,
Watching the frosted meadows
That winter had won.The evening was calm, Lady,
The air so still,
Silence more lovely than music
Folded the hill.There was a star, Lady,
Shone in the night,
Larger than Venus it was
And bright, so bright.
Oh, a voice from the sky, Lady,
It seemed to us then
Telling of God being born
In the world of men.And so we have come, Lady,
Our day’s work done,
Our love, our hopes, ourselves,
We give to your son. -
Where shepherds lately knelt and kept the angel's word,
I come in half-belief, a pilgrim strangely stirred;
But there is room and welcome there for me,
But there is room and welcome there for me.In that unlikely place I find him as they said:
Sweet newborn babe, how frail! and in a manger bed,
A still, small voice to cry one day for me,
A still, small voice to cry one day for me.How should I not have known Isaiah would be there,
His prophecies fulfilled?
With pounding heart I stare:
A child, a son, the Prince of Peace for me,
A child, a son, the Prince of Peace for me.Can I, will I forget how Love was born,
and burned Its way into my heart unasked, unforced, unearned,
To die, to live, and not alone for me,
To die, to live, and not alone for me?"A child, a son, the Prince of Peace.
-
See amid the winter’s snow,
Born for us on earth below;
See the tender Lamb appears,
Promised from eternal years.
Hail, thou ever blessed morn,
Hail, redemption’s happy dawn;
Sing through all Jerusalem,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.Lo, within a manger lies
He who built the starry skies;
He who, throned in height sublime,
Sits amid the cherubim:
Hail, thou ever blessed morn, ...Say, ye holy shepherds, say
What your joyful news today;
Wherefore have ye left your sheep
On the lonely mountain steep?
Hail, thou ever blessed morn, ...'As we watched at dead of night,
Lo, we saw a wondrous light;
Angels singing "Peace on earth"
Told us of the Saviour’s birth':
Hail, thou ever blessed morn, ...Sacred infant, all divine,
What a tender love was thine,
Thus to come from highest bliss
Down to such a world as this:
Hail, thou ever blessed morn, ...Teach, O teach us, Holy Child,
By thy face so meek and mild,
Teach us to resemble thee,
In thy meek humility:
Hail, thou ever blessed morn,
Hail, redemption’s happy dawn;
Sing through all Jerusalem,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.
The third set shifts into motion, charting a path from darkness toward dawning light. Poulenc’s Videntes stellam lifts the voices as though following a guiding spark, while Melissa Dunphy’s O Oriens turns toward the bright edge of morning, shimmering with anticipation. Ola Gjeilo’s Northern Lights widens the horizon with sweeping color and a sense of cosmic vastness. The set then opens into communal song with Willcocks’s The First Nowell, inviting the audience to join in a moment of familiar celebration and shared direction. David Wagoner’s poem “Lost” offers a counterbalance. It reminds us that a journey often begins with stillness and attention. The forest knows where you are, the poem says, and will show the way if you listen. Together, these works trace a path illuminated by both movement and quiet revelation.
READING: Lost
Stand still.
The trees ahead and bushes beside you
are not lost.
wherever you are is called Here,
and you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes.
Listen.
It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it,
you may come back again,
saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
you are surely lost.
Stand still.
The forest knows
where you are.
You must let it find you.
–David Wagoner (1999)
III. journey
-
Seeing the star, the wise men
were overwhelmed with great joy;
and entering the dwelling,
they offered to the Lord
gold, frankincense, and myrrh. -
O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. -
Thou art beautiful, O my love, sweet and comely daughter of Jerusalem.
Thou art beautiful, O my love, sweet and comely as Jerusalem.
Terrible as an army set in array.
Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have made me flee away. -
See program insert.
The final set opens into brightness and renewal. Poulenc’s Hodie Christus Natus Est bursts with buoyant color, setting the tone for exuberance. Sametz’s Gaudete amplifies that energy with rhythmic vitality and medieval lift. Will Todd’s My Lord Has Come adds expressive warmth, its lines shaped by tenderness and welcome. Ben Owen’s Noël Nouvelet closes the set with a sense of lively newness rising. Tagore’s excerpt from Gitanjali, “Where the Mind Is Without Fear,” expands this joy into a vision of human flourishing rooted in clarity, freedom, and truth. The music and text together open a space where joy becomes not only celebration, but the courage to imagine a world made new.
READING: Where the mind is without fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments;
by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way;
into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee;
into ever-widening thought and action—;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
–from “Gitanjali”, Rabindranath Tagore (1913)
IV. joy
-
Today Christ is born;
today the savior has appeared;
today the angels sing on earth,
the archangels rejoice;
today good people exult, saying,
"Glory to God in the highest."
Alleluia! -
Rejoice, rejoice!
Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary –
Rejoice!The time of grace has come—
What we have wished for;
Songs of joy
Let us give back faithfully.God has become man,
With nature marvelling,
The world has been renewed
By the reigning Christ.The closed gate of Ezekiel
Is passed through,
Whence the light is risen;
Salvation has been found.Therefore, let our assembly
Now sing in brightness
Let it bless the Lord:
Greetings to our King. -
Shepherds, called by angels, called by love and angels:
No place for them but a stable.
My Lord has come.Sages, searching for stars, searching for love in heaven;
No place for them but a stable.
My Lord has come.His love will hold me, his love will cherish me, love will cradle me.
Lead me, lead me to see him, sages and shepherds and angels;
No place for me but a stable.
My Lord has come. -
Sing we now of Christmas, Noel, sing we here!
Hear our grateful praises to the babe so dear.
Sing we now of Christmas, sing we all Noel!Angels called to shepherds, “Leave your flocks at rest,
journey forth to Bethlehem, find the child so blest.”
Sing we now of Christmas, sing we all Noel!From the eastern country, came the kings afar,
bearing gifts to Bethlehem, guided by a star.
Sing we now of Christmas, sing we all Noel!
epilogue
-
Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child!
Holy Infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.