Princeton High School Madrigal Singers to perform Dec. 9, 10

Performances to be held at the Barn at Hornbaker Gardens

Just around a bend stands the gravel entrance to Hornbaker Gardens. The lane, lined on one side by a white split-rail fence, leads past an open field to a wedding venue known as The Barn, retail space and thoughtfully planted display gardens as well as the brown two-story home of Rich Hornbaker.

In 1978 when Rich and his late wife, Kathy, first looked at the property now known as Hornbaker Gardens, it was a 14-acre abandoned homestead with an old house, a barn and some sheep.

The Princeton High School Madrigal Singers will perform at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9 and 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 10 at the Barn at Hornbaker Gardens, located 22937 County Rd. 1140 N. in Princeton.

This year, the Princeton High School Madrigal Singers are exploring another traditional Christmas era, departing from the renaissance to explore Victorian England.

Nineteenth-century England was the origin of many customs we still practice today including Christmas trees, holiday cards and many of the familiar carols we still sing today.

It also provided one of the most famous Christmas stories ever told, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” which is the basis for the 2023 Madrigal Dinner, “Fezziwig’s Feast.”

The setting of the dinner is the annual Christmas party thrown by Mr. Fezziwig for his family, employees and friends. Fezziwig charges Ebenezer Scrooge and his fellow clerk, Dick Wilkins, to provide some entertainment, which turns out to be the plot of Dickens’s story, with all the invited guests taking on the traditional roles of the spirit of Christmas past, present, the Cratchit family and many others.

The entertainment will look to provide humor, good food, and holiday music from the past and the present.

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