classical

There will be the usual spate of Christmas music in the coming weeks, including plenty of big band extravaganzas designed to blow the roof off. Glorious, fun stuff, to be sure, but there is a gentler, more serene way to open the season this year. Trio Med-iaeval consists of three Norwegian women possessed of voices of spot-on accuracy and bewitching tonal beauty. Their repertoire ranges over a half a millennium, including works of contemporary composers. Unlike the recently disbanded Anonymous 4, another acclaimed all-female a capella ensemble, Trio Mediaeval is less interested in strict historical accuracy than they are in the sheer joy of singing. For this Philadelphia Chamber Music Society event, they will present a program of 15th-century English carols and Norwegian Christmas carols and psalms. The pastoral wood and stone interior of St. Mark's offers ideal acoustics for this special music-making.

Fri., Dec. 9, 8 p.m., $21, St. Mark's Church, 1625 Locust St., 215-569-8080, www.philadelphiachambermusic.org.