Down East Singers, a choral group that regularly changes its musical style each year in December, is planning to warm up the chilly weather with a Latin-American holiday celebration entitled, “Navidad Nuestra” (Our Nativity). The program will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11, at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, 380 Academy Hill Road, Newcastle, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14, at Camden Opera House.

A combo of guitar, two flutes, two percussionists, string bass and electric keyboard will accompany the Spanish-language choral works. Shannon M. Chase, guest conductor, will lead the ensemble, with David Myers, Jr., and Anthony Antolini as tenor soloists. Antolini, artistic director of Down East Singers, appears as a soloist with the group for the first time.

The featured works are “Navidad Nuestra” and “Misa Criolla,” both written in 1963 by Argentine composer Ariel Ramírez,. The six movements of “Navidad Nuestra” tell the Nativity story in the lighthearted poetry of Felix Luna, an Argentine poet who frequently collaborated with Ramírez in writing songs. The work was originally intended to accompany a Christmas pageant. “Misa Criolla” is a lively setting in five movements of the Roman Catholic Mass in Spanish and was one of the first examples of Catholic sacred music set in a contemporary language and style after The Second Vatican Council mandated that worship should be conducted in local languages rather than Latin. Both works call for two tenor soloists, chorus and combo.

The program includes an exotic Afro-Colombian song entitled “Yambambó” which depicts a man drumming while a woman dances. The piece captures Colombia’s rich mix of African and Native American rhythms and sounds. Puerto Rico is represented with a Christmas lullaby entitled “En El Portal de Belén” for choir and guitar. An original Argentine carol by Pablo Sosa, “El Cielo Canta Alegría,” will be performed with choir and combo.

Making their first appearance with Down East Singers will be Jeff Rojo, guitarist, and Nate Martin, string bassist. Percussionists John Mehrmann and Mark Fredericks will cover the stunning variety of instruments required for the vivacious rhythm section. Flutists Susan Bragg and Nicole Rabata play music often associated with South American panpipes. Down East’s accompanist, Jennifer McIvor, plays electric keyboard in Ramírez’s orchestrations originally played on amplified harpsichord.

Admission to the St. Patrick’s Church performance on Dec. 11 is by suggested donation of $20; no tickets are necessary.

Tickets for the Camden Opera House performance are $20, free to those 18 and under, and are available from chorus members, online at www.downeastsingers.org, by calling 207-619-0413. If tickets remain, they will be available at the box office at 1 p.m. the day of the performance.