Waterbury Symphony Orchestra (WSO) will offer three performances of “A Salute to the Solstice” this weekend. The concerts are part of WSO’s ongoing “Music in Great Spaces” series.

Performances are planned for Friday, December 10, at 7 pm, at St Michael’s Episcopal Church in Litchfield; Saturday, December 11, at 7 pm, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 36 Main Street in Newtown; and Sunday, December 12, at 3 pm, at St John’s Episcopal Church in Waterbury.

The program will feature soprano Maria Wirries and organist William Trafka, as well as the brass and percussion of Waterbury Symphony Orchestra.

Tickets are $30, and can be purchased in advance or at the door.

WSO Music Director Leif Bjaland notes that many of the world’s religions, both ancient and modern, celebrate the winter solstice.

“It signals a return of the sun’s warming light and the birth of a new year, so for this concert we have included music from many different eras and traditions that all express a sense of joyful celebration,” Maestro Bjaland added.

Acting WSO Executive Director Doug Donato said the “Music in Great Spaces” series gives WSO musicians the opportunity to perform “in specular settings throughout northwestern Connecticut.

“The three churches featured in these Solstice concerts are all historic, beautiful and home to organs that are very powerful and tonally resplendent,” he said. “Pairing these magnificent instruments with the brass and percussion of the Waterbury Symphony will be a sonic spectacular.”

Versatile soprano Maria Wirries is a rising star on Broadway. A graduate of the musical theater program at Penn State, she was most recently seen in the Broadway traveling company of Dear Evan Hansen.

Theater credits also include the Broadway revival workshop of Once on this Island; The Artist Series Hot and Cold; Penn State Theatre’s Be More Chill, Sweet Charity, Hair, and Titanic; and The Players Theatre’s Masterclass.

Wirries has a passion for creating new, original work, and has commissioned songs by James Grant, Dick Hyman, Alex Rybeck, and Sheridan Seyfried. She also writes her own original songs, which can be heard on her account at SoundCloud.

Organ virtuoso William Trafka is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., where he was a student of the legendary American organist and teacher David Craighead. He arrived in New York City in 1985 to serve as the Associate Organist at St Bartholomew’s Church, where he was appointed director of music in 1995.

For 22 years, Trafka directed St Bartholomew’s Summer Festival of Sacred Music, offering Mass settings for 13 Sundays as part of the 11 am Eucharist.

He was also the artistic director of The Mid-Manhattan Performing Arts Foundation which presented “Great Music at St Bart’s,” a concert series which included performances by St Bartholomew’s Choir and a host of guest artists and ensembles.

Tickets can be reserved and additional information is available at waterburysymphony.org.