THE season of goodwill is upon us and scores of the region’s choristers are stepping on to concert platform spreading festive cheer with their glorious voices.

Come Friday, December 21 (7.30pm), the joyous sounds of Barrow Male Voice Choir and the Ghyll Singers combine for a Christmas concert at the Lisdoonie Hotel, on Abbey Road. The performance is under the illustrious baton of talented musical director Deborah Milledge, who has arranged some terrific seasonal music for the choirs, starting with the Advent processional hymn O come, O come Emmanuel.

Encouraging all to raise the roof, there will be plenty of well-known carols for audience participation and each choir will present music from its own repertoire, including many Christmas favourites such as Walking in the Air, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and White Christmas. Among the tuneful treats, the ladies of the Ghyll Singers will perform Elgar’s beautiful wintry part song The Snow, and the men will take on the role of the Wise Men when performing Mendelssohn’s Where is the new born King of Judaea?

Accompanists will be Margaret Harrison and Sue Quarmby, with Deborah Milledge conducting and compering. Tickets are available from choir members or at the door.

Meanwhile, this Friday (December 14, 7.30pm), Ulverston Choral Society will be in fine festive mood for its Christmas concert at the town’s St Marys Parish Church. Under the deft direction of Jolyon Dodgson, the programme includes Haydn’s joyous St Nicholas Mass together with Christmas music by Jonathan Millican, Britten and Rachmaninov. Plus, of course, carols. Tickets at the door or from Pam Gillman on 01229-716321.

The same night (Friday, 7.30pm) K Shoes Male Voice Choir will be in splendid voice at Kendal’s St Thomas’s Church with its Charity Christmas Concert and Arnside Choral Society’s festive gathering is on Saturday, December 15, at St James’s Church, with Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols, and works by Will Todd, Ole Gjeilo, Frederik Sixten and more. Both ensembles are conducted by another of the region’s highly regarded musical directors, Ian Allan.

The Pro Nobis Singers Christmas concert is on Sunday, December 16 (7.30pm) at St Mark’s, Natland, when the choir will be joined by organist, Ian Pattinson for a programme of seasonal music and readings. Entitled Welcome Sir Christèmas, the main work in the first half of the programme is William Mathias’ tuneful Carol Sequence ‘Ave Rex’ which concludes with a jaunty setting of the anonymous carol Sir Christèmas’. Other works include music by the 17th Century German composer Heinrich Schütz, music by Poulenc, Toby Young and Pro Nobis musical director, Clive Walkley’s new setting of a carol text by Carol Ann Duffy. Ian will contribute an organ solo and the concert concludes with folk songs from Germany, the Ukraine and Romania and two Wassail carols. (Tickets on 01539-723482)

Ian will also be on hand for Eversley Choir’s yuletide performance, A Peal of Bells, a Christmas celebration of carols, festive songs, readings, poems and music on the theme of bells, staged at St Thomas Church, Milnthorpe, on Monday, December 17 (7.30pm). (Tickets on 015396-21559)

Ian said that he was inspired to take up the organ after having heard it played in services at Kendal Parish Church when he was a boy chorister and was encouraged to have a go on the organ at Grayrigg Church, by his mother, Margaret. He eventually went on to have lessons with Barrow teacher Joan Swindlehurst.

“What I most love about the instrument is the almost orchestral range of colours available with different types of pipes, including flutes, trumpets and some that sound like violins or cellos," explains Ian. "The organ at Natland Church possesses a very fine sounding trumpet stop which I will enjoy playing in the Pro Nobis concert".