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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

Oklahoma Wins Red River Sing-Off

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DURANT – Oklahoma claimed bragging rights at the second-annual Red River Sing-Off held Tuesday on the campus of Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Eight high school choirs from Oklahoma and Texas faced off in head-to-head competition in four divisions. The choirs, invited based on histories of outstanding performances at state and UIL events, impressed judges and […]

Two Gustavus Adolphus Alumni Honored by Minnesota ACDA

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Gustavus alumni Thomas Hassig ’76 and Brian Ohnsorg ’97 will both be honored by the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota in November. Hassig has been selected as Minnesota Choral Director of the Year, while Ohnsorg was named Outstanding Young Choral Director of the Year. Hassig and Ohnsort will receive their awards on Nov. 20 […]

Lighthouse Music Publications New Releases – Fall 2010

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Lighthouse Music Publications has recently released the following works: An Empty Sea (SSA, marimba, vibraphone) – J. Smallman Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming (SSAA) – R. Bartlett Becalmed (SATB, piano – 4 hands) – J. Smallman Shadows on the Tide (SATB, piano – 4 hands) – J. Smallman Kuutamolla (SSATBB) – J. Smallman   Please visit Lighthouse Music […]

Sing it out for your mental health

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LIMERICK, IRELAND — Thursday, 30 September 2010 12:01 “CHORAL music is going through a certain renaissance now. It has become a very popular past-time to be involved in,” declares one who knows. Liz Powell is chief executive officer of the Limerick based Association of Irish Choirs (AOIC), an organisation that carries the strapline “enchancing life […]

White Eagle (Poland) for Stefan Stuligrosz

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Poland’s most prominent choral conductor, Stefan Stuligrosz, founder and music director of the Poznan Nightingales (Slowiki) Boys’ and Men’s Choir, has been decorated with the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state distinction.   Stuligrosz received the decoration from President Bronislaw Komorowski at a gala concert in Pozna?, which was also a celebration of […]

Mobilizing male voices

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Chor Leoni’s MYVoice program aims to introduce teenage boys to the world of choral singing By Julie MacLellan, The Record October 13, 2010 VANCOUVER, BC — Whatever you do, just don’t tell Kevin Zakresky that you can’t carry a tune in a bucket – or any other combination of words that might imply you can’t […]

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