Plan to hear the Steel Drum Band Tuesday, Dec. 7, join the Messiah sing on Wednesday, Dec. 8, and welcome back Christmas Gala Jazz on Friday, Dec. 10, all live on the Bethel campus.

Traditional Christmas music events had to be cancelled in 2020, but they’re all coming back in real life this year.

On Tuesday, Dec. 7, Brad Shores will lead the Bethel College Steel Drum Band in their holiday concert at 7 p.m. in Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center.

The next day, Dec. 8, Campus Ministries and the music department will sponsor the sing-along of Christmas portions of Handel’s Messiah.

The sing-along is open to all Bethel students, faculty, staff and the general public, and will take place in Memorial Hall at 11 a.m.

Messiah scores will be provided, or bring your own. Accompaniment will be by Bethel College instrumentalists, including student soloists and student conductors.

And on Dec. 10, Christmas Gala Jazz, under the direction of Joel Boettger, returns at 8 p.m. in Krehbiel Auditorium.

Current Bethel COVID protocols require mask-wearing and physical distancing to the extent possible indoors with groups of 10 or more.

There is no charge for any of these events. Freewill offerings to support the respective programs will be taken at the steel drum and jazz concerts.

Bethel is a four-year liberal arts college founded in 1887 and is the oldest Mennonite college in North America. Known for academic excellence, Bethel ranks at #15 in the Washington Monthly list of “Best Bachelor’s Colleges” and #31 in U.S. News & World Report, Best Regional Colleges Midwest, both for 2021-22. Bethel was the only Kansas college or university selected for the American Association of College & Universities’ 2021 Institute on Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation, and has been named a TRHT Campus Center. For more information, see www.bethelks.edu