Kick off your holidays with something unexpected. There’s more to getting ready for the season than Handel’s Messiah, Turkey and visits to Santa. Make your way to Milton Congregational Church on Sunday, November 23rd, 4 pm for a performance by The Conn Artists. No, that’s not a joke. That’s really their name. Continuing this play on words, the group who came together almost 30 years ago called their solo CD First Offense.

Now you know this a cappella group is funny, but what you’ll find out in an acoustically glorious 18thC Church in a quintessential New England village is that these six fellows deliver music that is, by turns, rousing, perfect for the holidays, hilarious, romantic, a bit bawdy, and sometimes so touching it can reduce you to tears.

The Connecticut-based Conn Artists are known not just for their talent – they practice weekly these days to keep up their chops –but also their generosity. The band often donates their services to nonprofit events, like this performance for Milton Music, a partnership of Milton Congregational Chruch and Litchfield Performing Arts, the non-profit known worldwide for Litchfield Jazz Festival and Litchfield Jazz Camp.