Principal trumpet Nicholas Whitchurch and principal trombone Brian Logan play in the horn section at the concert Sunday.  

Hundreds of local residents and visitors packed into the beautiful interior of St. Peter’s Catholic Church Sunday afternoon to kick off the Christmas season the best way that New Iberia knows how.

Holiday music rang out from the church thanks to the Iberia Cultural Resources Association’s ninth annual “Sounds of the Season,” a free concert held annually at the church and put on by the ICRA.

“We are delighted to have this little church for all of us to enjoy this splendid music,” ICRA President Cathy Indest said.

The Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, led by Mariusz Smolij, played some favorite Christmas tunes along with others the audience may have been less familiar with. The orchestra played instrumental tunes, as well as along with vocal performances from baritone Miguel Ochoa and soprano Dawn Boudreaux.

“Some of the tunes will be familiar, some will be new but all will be in the spirit of the holidays,” Smolij said before the concert began.

Musical classics and favorites like “Sleigh Ride,” “The Christmas Song” and “March of Toys” were played during the event, as well as sing-alongs of “The First Noel” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

“We are so delighted to be back in New Iberia,” Smolij said. “It feels like the Fourth of July was yesterday.”

The concert was the first of four free events the ICRA puts on every year in New Iberia. The organization also schedules “A Prelude To Spring,” which is held in February; “Symphony Sunday In The Park,” held in April, and “Stars and Stripes,” a patriotic concert held in June.

The organization is able to provide such high-level talent to a free audience largely because of donations that come from the community, Indest said. The ICRA rewards patrons who contribute a certain amount with patrons parties.

Indest said one appreciation event was being held after the concert Sunday.

“We have been able to do this because you all have embraced it and supported it,” Indest told the crowd. “So many of you are symphony patrons. That is the whole reason we are able to fund the $55,000 it costs to bring the symphony here for these four free concerts for our community.”

The next ICRA concert will be “A Prelude To Spring,” which has the theme of “Singing Trumpet and Powerful Tenor.” The event, which is set for 3 p.m. Feb. 25 at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, will be a classical chamber music concert featuring vocalists singing songs the audience will recognize.