Sweet Briar College will mark the holiday season with its annual Christmas Vespers at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3 in Memorial Chapel. The service of lessons and carols will be performed by the Sweet Briar Concert Choir and Chamber Choir, with visiting associate professor Frank Archer directing and SBC professor of music Rebecca McCord accompanying. The event is free and open to the public.

Frank ArcherSweet Briar’s Vespers follows the custom of alternating Christmas carols with scripture readings relating to the birth of Christ and the prophecies of his birth. In addition to traditional English hymns, the program also features Spanish and German songs, as well as a Basque carol, “The Angel Gabriel,” arranged by SBC Dean Jonathan Green.

Archer, who is also an associate professor in the fine arts department at his alma mater, Hampden-Sydney College, joined Sweet Briar’s faculty this year as director of choirs. An organist and respected church musician, he holds his master’s from Westminster Choir College. He is an active recitalist, often accompanying his wife, Mary Ann, formerly flutist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

As a conductor, Archer led the Hampden-Sydney Men’s Chorus on tours of England in 2004 and Italy in 2006 and has combined them in recent years with the Mary Baldwin and Randolph-Macon Woman’s College choirs for major works by Handel and Mozart. They will sing with the Sweet Briar Concert Choir in April.

A chocolate party at Sweet Briar House will follow the Vespers program. For more information, please call (434) 381-6113.