The Sheepscot Valley Chorus will present a concert of celebration, the changing seasons, and the joy of hope and renewal on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. at the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor on the corner of Eastern and Townsend avenues in Boothbay Harbor.

Some highlights of the ancient music and contemporary selections for the holiday concert will include Franz Schubert’s “Magnificat” (1861) and Francesco Durant’s “Magnificat” (1700). Schubert, of Austria, was an “unrivaled master of lyrical beauty." The mystery of such beauty must be left, kept, and sensed in a spiritual sense of our thinking. Durante, of Naples, Italy, was a leading composer of church music. The linking of church and state were one and the same: wealth given of God.

Alford Burt’s music will also be featured. This American composer, a Second World War veteran, translated the ageless message of seasonal transitions to modern romantic jazz – a meter of harmony and companionship. Christmas carols by British composer, John Rutter will also be performed. Rutter’s music carries a strong sense of American jazz –a binding dissidence that is heard in the compositions of Duke Ellington and Sarah Vaughn.

Under the direction of Linda Blanchard, accompanied by pianist Sean Fleming, the chorus will perform a beautiful program of music, rooted in history and traditional praise. Soloist, soprano: Nina Tilander, alto: Sue Hunt, tenor: David Myers, Jr. and bass: John David Adams. Instrumentalists include violinists Dina Liva and Carol Preston, Linda Theriault on viola, cellist Christina Chute and Quinn Gormley, percussionist.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $12 at Sherman's Book & Stationery on Commercial Street in Boothbay Harbor, Treats (Main Street) in Wiscasset and at the Maine Coast Book Shop on Main Street in Damariscotta. Tickets will be $15 at the door.