Students and St. Thomas neighbors spread holiday cheer at the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library Tuesday, singing Christmas carols alongside the Women’s Choir.

Robert Vickery directed the performance, and between each number, talked about the pieces sung by the choir. Vickery said this event would be the last of the semester for the group.

“It’s a chance for us to perform our Christmas music one more time after the big Christmas concert at Orchestra Hall,” said Vickery, who is the Women’s Choir director.

Vickery also was an accompanist for the Christmas concert last Sunday. He said he was happy with the student, staff, faculty and community turnout, and he added he hopes the choir receives more recognition.

“I think it’s important that the greater St. Thomas community knows programs exist like this,” Vickery said.

The carols also represent “a little calm and beauty” for the students who participated, Vickery said.

Senior Laura Nagel attended the event as a student caroler because she “loves Christmas carols and music in general.”

Nagel was not involved with the Women’s Chorus but still wanted to attend. Nagel said the sing-along event was important for St. Thomas and it “deserves to be appreciated.”

“For one thing, they obviously put a lot of time and effort into working on their music,” Nagel said. “It’s also important for campus community as a whole to have these cultural events.”

The annual carols are part of our American culture, so people should take pride in that heritage and share it with international students, Nagel said.

The Women’s Choir’s next performance will be at the WomanVoice concert in March at Augsburg, Vickery said. St. Thomas will combine with the women’s choirs from Augsburg and the University of Minnesota for that event. Vickery also said they plan to do another similar sing-along event next year during the holiday season to increase awareness of St. Thomas’ fine arts and to get into the holiday spirit.

Nathan Spencer can be reached at spen9079@stthomas.edu.