ChoralNet

The professional networking site for the global online choral community.

“Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.” Winston Churchill

I’m rerunning some Choral Ethics blogs from years past with a few modifications where needed. Two of my MOST REQUESTED December Blogs will also be making their yearly appearances.

In a few days, it will be Christmas Eve. Your plans have been made for months if you’re anything like me. But this is the Christmas of 2025, so you probably have a “Plan B” if you’re smart and I know you are. Here in the Midwest, there could be a blizzard predicted, so that always adds another layer of planning. Just when we think things are back to “normal,” something happens to mess it all up!

Advent and Christmas, more than Lent and Easter, are much more stressful for our profession. I’m not sure why, but perhaps it’s the gift giving and baking and traveling to see family and friends and all the concerts and services we must prepare or attend. Or maybe it’s just the time of year, who knows? We have many things to accomplish, usually in the dark, and we rarely get all accomplished. I do know for a fact we’re all stressed.

I am here today to remind you to try to be as relaxed as you are able to be, in this super busy season for Choral Folk. Take a breath and when you are thrown for a loop, take another breath. And be kind. Be kind to those around you, whether they be your family, your choir or those you work with. Make kindness “your thing” this Christmas, no matter what happens. Be kind, my dear friends, and reap the benefits later.

Stress cancels out the beauty of the season and there is plenty of beauty so take a breath, do your Alexander Technique breathing or yoga breathing, and take a moment to relax and enjoy. You deserve the beauty; you deserve the goodness you’ve been creating for everyone else this holiday season. You deserve to have some cookies and eggnog and punch, so have some. And you deserve to have some Fa-La-Las directed by someone else for a change!

Know you’ve made a difference in someone’s life this holiday season and you may never know it. Be okay with not knowing because that will be your gift to the world. Your choir singing “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen” may have comforted a child who lost a parent this year or someone newly widowed. Singing “Silent Night” may be the only time a rough and tough teenager uses their voice and finds they like singing. Something you do, something you have planned, something you are not aware of will make a difference. You may find out, you may not, but know you have made a difference.

Much love to you all, ChoralNet, as we ’round the corner to Christmas.

Search Results for: choir

The Song of the Star by Fredrik Sixten

by Leave a Comment

for choir a cappella. A short and very expressive song for Christmas. The lyrics is originally in Swedish. Easy difficulty level and with a moderate range. One can order the scores also via direct download. http://www.renty.se/WorkDetail/119471 Watch a performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCcmbhw7_Oo

Composition Spotlight – I Hear America Singing

by Leave a Comment

COMPOSITION SPOTLIGHT ~ by Jack Senzig   (Each week we look at one or two of the best choral works posted in the Composition Showcase here on ChoralNet.  This is where we store a treasure trove of works that your choirs will love to sing and your audiences will love to hear.)   I Hear America Singing by James […]

International Symposium on Singing and Song: Early Bird Registration now open

by Leave a Comment

Hosted under the auspices of the Singing Network at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the Symposium on Singing and Song will take place October 1-4, 2015. Early bird registrations are now open online until July 30th.   The Symposium on Singing and Song will bring together scholars, performers and pedagogues, representing diverse disciplines, to […]

What’s on Great Sacred Music, Sunday, July 5, 2015

by Leave a Comment

Great Sacred Music airs every Sunday morning from 8 until 11 a.m. eastern on The Classical Station. Much of the music on this week’s playlist can also be found on Spotify at this link: Great Sacred Music – July 5, 2015 Also on Sunday evenings you can hear more choral music both sacred and secular on Wavelengths and […]

DISTINGUISHED CONCERTS INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT IT HAS NAMED JAMES M. MEADERS ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR

by Leave a Comment

DISTINGUISHED CONCERTS INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT IT HAS NAMED JAMES M. MEADERS ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR DCINY’S EDMUNDO MONTOYA AND ANDREA MACY ALSO ADVANCE IN NEW ROLES              For Immediate Release, June 23, 2015, New York, NY …. Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) is pleased to announce that […]

Joseph and The AT Dreamcoat Showtrax CD

by Leave a Comment

Item: Showtrax CD Composer/Arranger/Edition: Hal Leonard Roger Emerson arrangement Starting: Now, really, for 19th July performance For: ten days or so Copies: 1 Willing to rent: Yes   I’ve had this on order for months in the UK for a church choir performance on 19th July, and have been made various promises of delivery. It […]

© 2025 American Choral Directors Association. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy