CARLSBAD — Holiday parties, cheer and joy is filling the air with the sounds of Christmas music.
Adding to the seasonal spirit is a two-day celebration hosted by St. Michael’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church. The Carlsbad sanctuary will kickoff the event from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 17 to celebrate Las Posadas, a Latin American tradition commemorating the journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
The following day at 4 p.m. on Dec. 18, St. Michael’s will host a “Jazz Family Christmas,” a concert featuring the smooth sounds of the Jazz Evensong band playing behind Renaissance Institute of Music‘s youth and family orchestra.
Both events concerts are free and open to the public.
“Last year, we started the Jazz Evensong,” Father Doran Stambaugh said. “We rebranded it and called it a ‘Jazz Family Christmas.’ The jazz band plays a few Christmas tunes, and the heart of the program is the kiddos come up, and the jazz band plays behind them. The kiddos play Christmas carols and do scripture readings.”
Oceanside-based Renaissance Institute of Music, a nonprofit offering tuition-free orchestras for underserved kids and adults in North County, was started 10 years ago by Kim Stephens-Doll.
The Renaissance Institute of Music program is inspired by Venezuela’s El Sistema (“the system”), founded in 1975 to bring free classical music education to children. Over the decades, El Sistema has developed some of the best musical talents in the world, including Gustavo Dudamel, musical director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Rafael Payare, music director for the San Diego Symphony and Orchestra Symphonique de Montréal.
Stephens-Doll said the Renaissance Institute features players from age six up to 71, all of whom have jumped at the chance to learn how to play an instrument.
“It’s focused on the music created by the community and doesn’t assume people have the resources to hire private teachers or buy their own instruments,” Stephens-Doll said.
The holiday season has been busy for the orchestra, which has already performed sing-along concerts at the Maker’s Market and Village Tree Lighting. According to Stephens-Doll, concerts are essential for the kids’ confidence and growth.
“They develop a lot of confidence, skill and a different picture of themselves — as contributors instead of consumers,” Stephens-Doll said.
