Singing Nuns ring in season

A Spokane holiday staple is on the way: the annual Christmas concerts by the Singing Nuns of Mount Saint Michael.

This year’s version will have an Irish accent, with guest artists ROOTS, an Irish family band; the Kelly Irish Dancers; and harpist Serena Miller.

Yet most of the show will have the same elements that have made it a local institution: traditional and sacred Christmas songs, performed under the choral direction of Sister Mary Bernadette and with the musical direction and arrangements of Edward Myers.

It should also have the sense of good cheer and fun that has marked the Singing Nuns concerts since 1996. Sister Mary Bernadette said that we can expect plenty of “Irish jokes and Irish joviality.”

The Singing Nuns are the choral ensemble from the convent and school on Mount Saint Michael, a few miles northeast of Spokane. They took up singing in 1979 to raise money for their convent; since then they have made 21 recordings, performed at the Hollywood Bowl and appeared on “The Merv Griffin Show.”

The guest artists will give the show a distinct Celtic flair. ROOTS is a band made up of the extended Stratte family in the Spokane area, performing on bodhran, whistle, hammered dulcimer, guitar and accordion.

The Kelly Irish Dancers are from a Colbert, Wash., dancing school. They perform a variety of Celtic styles.

Harpist Miller has performed with nuns in many of their Christmas shows.

This show will constitute a kind of Singing Nuns reunion, since Sister Mary Bernadette has flown in from her home in Boston and Myers will travel from his home in Las Vegas.