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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

National Catholic Youth Choir-2012

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You are invited to join The National Catholic Youth Choir . . .    “I will sing and make music for the Lord,” a choral performance of selected high school students from across the U.S. led by choral conductor, Dr. Axel Theimer, program director Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB.   2012 National Catholic Youth Choir Concert […]

Choir Games organizers in race to the singing line

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By Janelle Gelfand   CINCINNATI — In one month, the world converges on Cincinnati for the 2012 World Choir Games. It’s the sprint to the finish line, and a zillion details are still being firmed. Downtown will be the epicenter of what is considered the “Olympics” of choral music, expected to draw 15,000 participants from more […]

American choir flies in to sing at Huddersfield

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By Val Javin HUDDERSFIELD, UK — When a talented young American choir was looking for concert partners in the UK, one Huddersfield group was quick to respond. The result is that early next month, the Kingwood Chorale from Houston will sing in concert with the Huddersfield U3A mixed voice choir. Eric Cooper, co-director of the […]

Will.i.am. helps UK school choir after BBC debut

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By Ruth McKee   ENFIELD, UK — A SCHOOL choir has been catapulted into the limelight after performing live on prime time BBC series The Voice.   And its young members are now hoping for chart success after recording a single with one of the reality show’s semi-finalists.  The choir from Oasis Academy Hadley are the protégées […]

Country star works with Nashville high school choir

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By Brad Schmitt   NASHVILLE — David Nail has grabbed a Nashville students choir to help him sing “The Sound of a Million Dreams” Thursday night (June 7) at Nashville’s LP Field as part of this year’s CMA Music Festival. And rehearsals proved to be so powerful that David almost lost it, The Tennessean reports.   “I don’t […]

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