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“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

Estonians keep their musical tradition alive

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With a long history of song festivals, Estonia is a country where singing has served the purpose of both entertainment and political protest. Today’s young Estonians are keeping up this tradition. The small Baltic country of Estonia has hundreds of choirs, which meet at schools, churches and even factories. Many towns hold regular music festivals […]

How to be a choral accompanist

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A nice series of posts about how to accompany for choir –    Here’s part one.   And here is part two.   And a sampling from the articles: 5. Learn to play all of the voice parts together. Pay special attention to key changes, meter changes, accidentals, and any places where dissonance results between […]

Donald Patriquin – Noel Nowell Noel CD – 80 minutes of Christmas music

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  Newly available from A Tempo Music:   MUSIC FOR CHRISTMAS FOR CHOIR, BRASS, STRINGS, WOODWINDS AND PERCUSSION Three Choral Ensembles and Three Instrumental Ensembles Conducted by Iwan Edwards and Donald Patriquin; Marcel Saint-Cyr and Pierre Beluse GIOVANNI GABRIELI: MOTETS FOR CHOIR AND BRASS ARCANGELO CORELLI: “CHRISTMAS” CONCERTO (Opus 6, No. 8) DONALD PATRIQUIN: CHRISTMAS […]

Stephanie Martin CD Release

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One of Toronto’s exceptional, under-the-radar classical musicians is Stephanie Martin, director of music at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, director of the Pax Christi Chorale and professor of organ, harpsichord and music history at York University. She is also an accomplished composer. The latest fruit of her labours is a new disc that has […]

World Choral Day December 12, 2010

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Join thousands of choirs around the world as we unite in the celebration of World Choral Day on Sunday, December 12, 2010. Millions of singers across the globe have been involved in World Choral Day concerts, festivals, sing-alongs, choral seminars, Days of Friendship and other events that celebrate our unity in choral music. The American […]

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