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Rejoice!

Rejoice!
By Nathan Duke

Queens residents will have ample opportunities to mark the holiday season this month with more than 30 events taking place throughout the borough to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, including concerts, tree and menorah lightings, dance performances and house tours.

Nearly every Queens neighborhood will host events for Christmas (Dec. 25), Hanukkah (Dec. 11 to 19) and Kwanzaa (Dec. 26 to Jan. 1) with prices ranging from free admission to $25.

The Oratorio Society of Queens will host its annual holiday concert at 4 p.m. on Dec. 20 in Queensborough Community College’s Performing Arts Center at 222-05 56th Ave. in Bayside. Tickets to hear the group, an amateur chorus which sings past and present choral works, are $25 for the general public and $20 for seniors, students with identification and children under age 12.

On Dec. 13, the Queens Historical Society will host its 22nd annual Flushing Historic House Tour from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The tour, which is $10 for adults and free for children ages 12 and under, will visit Flushing Town Hall, Friends Meeting House, Kingsland Homestead, Lewis H. Latimer House and Voelker Orth Museum.

Other Christmas events in the borough include Winter Holiday Fun workshops at Jamaica Center for Arts Learning on Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m., a holiday concert with Linda Ipanema at Steinway Library in Astoria on Dec. 12 at 2 p.m., a Christmas dance hosted by the New York Metropolitan Country Music Association at Glendale Memorial Building at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 12 and a performance of “The Nutcracker” at 2 p.m. on Dec. 13 at Flushing Town Hall.

The Free Synagogue of Flushing will light a ceremonial menorah next to the Christmas tree at Flushing’s Queens Library, which is located at 47-17 Main St., at 4 p.m. on Dec. 11, while a Grand Menorah Lighting will take place at Queens Center Mall on Dec. 11 and 18 at 3 p.m., Dec. 12 at 6 p.m. and Dec. 14 and 17 at 5:30 p.m.

There are several Hanukkah concerts taking place in the borough throughout the holiday season. On Dec. 10, Soprano Sarah Tilevitz and accompanist Orrin Tilevitz will retell the story of the holiday through song in Yiddish, Hebrew and English at the Richmond Hill Library, located at 118-14 Hillside Ave, at 6:30 p.m. The Forest Hills Library, located at 108-19 71st Ave., will host the Hanukkah Songs of Light concert on Dec. 12 at 2:30 p.m. Both events are free of charge.

The Afrikan Poetry Theatre will host one of the borough’s largest Kwanzaa celebrations at the Rochdale Village Community Center, which is located at 169-65 137th Ave. in Jamaica, on Dec. 27 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. The gala, which is $5 for adults and $1 for children, will include the lighting of candles, caterers, an African marketplace, a performance by the Rochdale Village Elite Drum Corps and other performers.

Corona’s Langston Hughes Community Library, located at 100-01 Northern Blvd., will host its annual Kwanzaa celebration at 1 p.m. on Dec. 12. The event, which is free of charge will include a performance by Simply Skins, an all-female percussion group.

Other Queens Kwanzaa events include performances by string music dance band The Ebony Hillbillies at Flushing’s Queens Library at 2 p.m. on Dec. 19 and at Jamaica’s Central Library on Dec. 29 at 1 p.m. as well as music by Grammy winner Bakithi Kumalo, who will play South African melodies at Flushing Town Hall at 2 p.m. Dec. 20.

Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.