JAZZ AND MORE: Jazz pianist Phil Orr will open the Holidays at Westminster festival of holiday music with “Jingle Bell Jazz” on Sunday, December 8 at 3 p.m. at Westminster Choir College. (Photo credit: Michael Haworth)

The Holidays at Westminster festival of holiday music begins with a performance by jazz pianist Phil Orr on Sunday, December 8 at 3 p.m. in the Robert L. Annis Playhouse on the Westminster Choir College campus.

“Phil Orr and More: Jingle Bell Jazz” features Orr, joined by Michael O’Brien on bass, and Sean Dixon on drums. They will perform traditional favorites such as “Jingle Bells,” “Carol of the Drums,” and “All I Want for Christmas is You,” plus other holiday favorites in swing, post-bop, Brazilian, Afro-Latin, New Orleans, and even klezmer-infused jazz styles. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors.

The festival will continue with three performances of “An Evening of Readings and Carols,” a concert of holiday music for choir, organ, and brass presented in Princeton University Chapel. Three of Westminster’s choirs, a choir composed of Westminster Choir College alumni, the Solid Brass ensemble, and organist Ken Cowan are on the program. Performances are Friday, December 13 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, December 14 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets range from $40 to $70.

On Sunday, December 15 at 4 p.m., the Westminster Concert Bell Choir, conducted by Kathleen Ebling Shaw, will present a program titled “Love Came Down at Christmas” in Bristol Chapel on the Westminster campus, on Walnut Lane. Their program will feature original works, transcriptions of light classics and Christmas carols, performed on the world’s largest range of handbells and choirchime instruments. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 students/seniors.

Visit www.rider.edu/arts, or call (609) 921-2663 or purchase in person at the box office in the Marion Buckelew Cullen Center on the Westminster campus.