On the Way to Bethlehem:

Christmas from Eastern Lands

In an age where much is heard about decolonizing and anti-Imperialism, it is often forgotten that Christianity is not, at its heart, a ‘Western’ religion. In this presentation, we take the listener on a musical journey far from the centres of Western Christendom. From the East Slavic lands, where the Slavonic-texted music of Bortniansky and his heirs resounds through the great urban centres of L’viv, Kyiv, Moscow, and St Petersburg, we move eastward to the Balkans, where the native musical traditions of the Bulgars, Serbs, Roumanians, Wallachs, combine with influences from Byzantium and Russia. With Byzantine chant we enter the historically Hellenophone lands of Greece, Anatolia, and the Arabophone Levant, back to Bethlehem where it all began. 

Saturday 22 Nov 2025, 730pm: Jubilee Church

Sunday 23 Nov 2025, 730pm : Queenstown Lutheran Church

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