Through her years as a choir singer and leader, Jeanette Bruce has harmonized with her fair share of vocalists. But still nothing can quite compare to the hundreds of voices singing in unison for Whistler’s Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols, which marks its 40th anniversary this holiday season.
“When you’ve got 50, 60 people in the choir that already sound incredible and then you add 1,000 audience members singing ‘Joy to the World,’ it’s spectacular,” says Bruce, director of the Whistler Children’s Chorus, which, alongside the adult choir, the Whistler Singers, performs at the carol service every year. “I’m a proponent of people singing together. Making music together is one of the best ways to build community. It’s kind of like nothing else.”
The resort’s longest-running annual arts event after the Whistler Children’s Festival, the Christmas Eve Carol Service can trace its origins to the Whistler Skier’s Chapel, where the first service was held in 1985. Known for its distinctive A-frame design, the chapel was one of the first interdenominational churches in Canada, and those early Christmas Eve services reflected that fact.
“It used to be the priest from the Catholic church and the pastor from the Whistler Community Church and the minister from the Whistler United Church, all three of them used to be an integral part of the carol service,” says Alison Hunter, director of the Whistler Singers. “This carol service is interdenominational and is for people of all faiths and people without faith.”
Numerous venues have hosted the service over the years, from the Skier’s Chapel to the conference centre, and its current home, The Westin. In fact, this Christmas Eve will make the first time since 2019 the service will be able to hold the more than 2,000 attendees it had at its peak, after the pandemic, and weather, conspired to throw a wrench in the plans. In 2020, with physical distancing measures in place, the service went virtual, livestreamed from Hunter’s backyard. It was virtual again the following year, filmed indoors at the library. The service was slated to be back in-person in 2022, again at the library, before an 11th-hour ice storm forced organizers to cancel. Last year marked the first service since COVID with in-person attendees, but the library was only able to hold about 300 or so people, with more eager carollers outside joining the sing-a-long.
“We very much want it to be come one, come all and hopefully fill that ballroom again,” says Bruce.
It was through Shannon Susko, whose kids have sang in the Whistler Children’s Choir over the years, and her company, Metronomics, that the service acquired the sponsorship dollars required to return to The Westin.
“It’s just amazing, They are paying all the bills,” says Hunter, adding it’s the first time the event has had a corporate sponsor.
This year’s program will feature classic Christmas carols most know and love, along with a series of new readings by notable locals, such as Susko, Mayor Jack Crompton, and Councillor Jeff Murl.
“It was time to update [the readings],” Hunter says. “The message is really, yeah, there was a baby that was born on Christmas, but every child that’s born, every baby is a miracle and every baby is a hope for a greater world. It doesn’t matter what people believe as long as they believe that there’s hope.”
The carol service is distinct in terms of Whistler events in that it attracts a healthy number of both locals and visitors.
“It often feels like one or the other, so it’s great to see the blend of visitors and locals. We have gotten lots of visitors who have made it their own tradition when they come to Whistler every Christmas,” says Bruce.
In a town where so many are far from home on the holidays, the event provides a welcome sense of community and connection at a time of year when that can be difficult.
“We have a moment in the carol service where we stop and everybody turns and wishes everybody else a merry Christmas. It’s a beautiful moment,” Hunter says. “We have a lot of people in Whistler who don’t have family or people of their own, and this is a place where they can come, be welcomed and be a part of the Christmas spirit.”
The event is free to attend, although donations are welcome. Half the donations will go towards outreach services at the Whistler Community Services Society, while the other half will fund choral performances in 2025.
Doors open at 6 p.m., with the service starting at 6:30 p.m. Learn more at whistlerchorus.org.
