As the smell of hot chocolate and the sound of carols fills the air in the Carnegie room, many members of the Guilford community are enjoying an evening of readings and carols.

As the holiday season rolls around, Guilford is participating in a number of ways. One example is the Evening of Reading and Carols on Sunday, Dec. 2, in which the Guilford College Choir, Lumina Treble Ensemble and Guilford Youth Chorus, as well as Guilford College Professors, participated.

“As a Quaker founded institution with deep Christian roots, I believe it is important to continue to tell and retell these stories from different angles, perspectives and with new insights,” said Director of the Friends Center Wess Daniels.

Many attendees said that the chosen collection of songs and readings was captivating, and the voices of the performers blew the them away.

Along with the performances themselves, the calming atmosphere of the Carnegie Room was aimed to embody the feeling of community and holiday spirit that the event planners were trying to embody.

The evening started off with the Guilford College Choir entering the room singing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” walking to the front of the room to finish their vocal piece.

After a few more songs from the Choir, the Guilford Youth Chorus performed their own selection of songs.

“It was really fun performing for you guys and I hope you liked it,” said Guilford Youth Chorus Member Luisa Coleman.

Following the Youth Chorus, there were multiple readings of poetry and short pieces by various authors such as Kevin Young and Georg Trakl. Some of these readings covered topics such as awareness and social justice in addition to the general holiday theme.

There were also a few more religious pieces that were read  throughout the night inbetween the remaining songs sung by the college choir.

The Lumina Treble Ensemble then came out to sing a few songs, such as “The Angel,”  before the finale.

“I enjoyed singing. I’m glad that the College allows staff or even people that have retired to come and sing in the choir,” said Lumina Treble Ensemble Member Deborah Shaw. “I love the Carnegie Room for a venue. It has very good acoustics and it’s just beautiful and has a very good feel.”

The final song was a sing-along of “The First Nowell” with the audience, which ended the night with high energies from the audience and performers involved in the event.

“It was truly beautiful,” said Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Katie Collier.

After the singing was over, attendees gathered in a common area outside the Carnegie Room to enjoy some hot chocolate and cookies. Although the event had officially ended, many attendees stayed to enjoy the refreshments and converse with each other.