The Grammy-winning Pacific Chorale, one of the nation’s leading choirs, launches its signature holiday programming with two performances of “Carols by Candlelight,” spotlighting timeless traditional and contemporary holiday music, including the choir-commissioned world premiere of Meet Me for Noche Buena by noted LA-based Filipino composer Saunder Choi, a tenor in the chorus whose work has been described as “fresh and earnest” (San Francisco Classical Voice). Special musical guests organist Jung-A Lee and pianist David Clemensen join members of Pacific Chorale, bathed in flickering candlelight, for this distinctive seasonal program on Saturday, December 3, and Wednesday, December 7, 2022, 8:00 pm, in the hushed sanctuary of Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Newport Beach. Artistic Director Robert Istad also conducts “Gloria” from Missae Papae Marcelli by Palestrina, Stanford’s Magnificat in G, Op. 81, and works by such contemporary composers as Sarah Quartel, Bob Chilcott, Chad McCoy, Ola Gjeilo, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Will Todd and Alexandra Denny.