If you've tired of hearing the same holiday carols year after year -- and you aren't yet ready to bring the likes of Neil Diamond into your Christmastime -- you can get different fare at the Pittsburgh Camerata's holiday concerts. Many of the old carols and hymns of its "Journey to the Manger" program have faded away, but that doesn't mean they aren't effective or ravishing, such as the 16th-century traditional Catalonian carol "El desembre congelat" or the 14th-century Spanish round "Cuncti simus concanentes."

Artistic director Rebecca Rollett will sneak in a few known tunes, but even they -- the ancient "The Wexford Carol" or "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" -- certainly aren't heard as much as "Jingle Bells."

Performances are 8 p.m. Saturday at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Highland Park; 8 p.m. Dec. 11 at Sixth Presbyterian Church, Squirrel Hill; and 8 p.m. Dec. 12 at Mt. Lebanon United Lutheran Church. Tickets are $10-$20; call 412-421-5884 or visit www.pittsburghcamerata.org.

Critics Andrew Druckenbrod and Scott Mervis talk about music on "The Beat," available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.