COEUR d'ALENE - The nonprofit Northwest Sacred Music Chorale will present its fall concerts - Camille Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio - at the Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Road, Coeur d'Alene, this weekend.

Performances are at 7 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and seniors.

Tickets are available online at www.nwsmc.org and at First Presbyterian Church, 521 E. Lakeside; Great Harvest Bread Co., 2106 N. Government Way; and Northwest Academy of Music, 4055 N. Government Way.

Tickets, if available, will also be sold at the door.

Nate Jolley, the chorale's executive director, said less than 100 tickets remain for each performance.

"We're pretty sure a performance like this has never been done in this area," Jolley said. "We've got some really high quality soloists."

Featured soloists include: Becki Stevens, soprano; Patricia Blankenship-Mortier, mezzo soprano; Debbie Raby, mezzo soprano; Scott Miller, tenor; Steven Mortier, baritone; Diana Clemons and Friends Chamber Orchestra; and Kim Davidson, harp.

The conductor is Gaynell Coppess.

The chorale, which has 72 members from the region, performs mostly classical sacred music, but also offers some contemporary music.

"A lot of churches have gone to praise music and we're trying to preserve some of the music that was written over the centuries," Jolley said.

The Christmas Oratorio was composed in 1863 and was French composer, organist and pianist Saint-Saens' first major choral work. In 1858 he became the organist of the prestigious Church of the Madeline, where he stayed for 20 years. Later, he became a touring pianist and organist and played in the United States twice.