During the holiday season, it’s easy to get caught up in the sometimes frantic scramble to fulfill social commitments and wish lists.

It can be easy to forget the real reason for the season; but something beautifully inspiring and peaceful can settle into the soul when we hear the traditional songs of Christmas. It slows the heartbeat, relaxes the shoulders and engenders hope.

In 2017, the music ministers at St. Joseph’s Church in La Cholla invited all of Rocky Point to set aside an evening to remember “The Reason for the Season” through music. The concert had to be cancelled in 2020 but returned last year in an outdoor venue.

This year, the fifth Christmas Concert will take place inside the church on Friday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m., under the direction of Sunny Perotti and German Esquer from the Academia de Musica Rafael Sotelo in Rocky Point.

The evening will begin with the St. Joseph’s Christmas Choir, followed by performances by the students of the Academy. It will conclude with Maestro Esquer singing the Ave Maria. Afterward, attendees are invited to stay for cocoa, cookies and conversation.

There will not be a church service that evening, just music. Attendees will have an opportunity to make a free-will donation to a scholarship fund for the students, but admission to the concert is free. There is seating for approximately 160.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church offers the only bilingual Mass in Rocky Point, each Sunday morning at 8:30. To reach the church, take the paved road past the Sandy Beach condos and the dirt road past Wrecked at the Reef. As you wind toward Cholla Bay, the church is on your right. There is parking on both sides of the church and on adjacent streets. All are welcome.

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Members of the St. Joseph’s Christmas Choir try on new choir robes for the Christmas Concert on Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. Admission is free and all are welcome.

Maestro German Esquer, seated at the keyboard, leads his students at an earlier St. Joseph’s Christmas Concert.