Holiday carols, some contemporary tunes and cute kids: The perfect mix for early December.

Winterfest of Music presented by Warren County Community Singers will be on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 8, at 3 p.m.

The Saturday concert is at Grace Lutheran Church, 300 Roseberry Street, Phillipsburg, and the Sunday concert is at the long-time concert venue of the Singers, the First Presbyterian Church, 40 East Church Street, Washington. Both venues are wheelchair accessible and have ample parking.

The Singers will be joined by the Children’s Chorus of Warren County under the direction of Mariah Adams and with accompanist Laura Rader.

The concert presents some new twists on old favorites, such as Ruth Morris Gray’s “Comfort and Joy” and an Audrey Snyder arrangement of “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Songs we never tire of like “Sleigh Ride” and “Joy to the World.” Some fun comes from “Throw Open Your Shutters,” a festival madrigal by Any Feldman Bernan and “Blizzard” by John Parker and Vicki Tucker Courtney. A calm and meditative mood comes from “Puer Natus” by Richard A. Williamson and “The Peace Carol” by Bob Beers. The Children’s Chorus will join the Singers on an arrangement of “Silent Night” and “Peace Carol” from “John Denver and the Muppets, A Christmas Together.”

Hunter Chadeayne, music teacher and music director at the United Methodist Church of Belvidere, directs the Singers. Ann Hoyt, music director of St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, Belvidere, who started with the Singers 25 years ago, continues as associate director/accompanist. 

The Community Singers are a non-audition group made up of about 60 singers from high school age to senior citizens. They come from all over the county and beyond. The new semester starts in early January. Rehearsals are on Tuesdays 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Washington.              

The concert is free, but a good-will offering will be taken. Part of that money will be used toward the annual Warren County music scholarships for seniors from county high schools. The singers are made possible by funds from the Warren County Cultural and Heritage Division of Land Preservation, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.