So I’m a Grinch. A serious Grinch. Actually, scratch that. I’m not EVEN a Grinch—I wouldn’t even bother to steal Christmas. However, Chicago a Cappella’s Friday concert at Fourth Presbyterian Church did wonders to make me reconsider my general Grinchiness.

What was most striking throughout the entire evening was the versatility with which the ensemble embodied and deftly switched between the many styles of music on the program. The nonet opened the evening the medieval chant “Angelus ad Viginem” which set a haunting tone for the evening as the perfectly balanced voices transported the audience to a quieter, dare I say, more spiritual time. Poulenc’s “Motets pour le Temps de Nöel” were another showcase of CAC’s pure sonic beauty.

In addition to this more sombre holiday fare, the group sang a number of spirituals (“Sistah Mary”; “Children, Go Where I Send Thee) to which they brought fun and an appropriate lightheartedness. The three-man bass section added especially to this music’s vaguely jazzy quality, at times using their deep voices almost more like percussion instruments than, say, like Wotan.

All in all it was an enchanting evening, and enough that my Grinchiness can no long be counted among “the six that couldn’t be fixed” from “Children, Go Where I Send Thee.”