Preparing for the Holiday Concert of 2021

It's November 5, 2021.

On November 5, 2020, I was teaching chorus virtually with no end in sight.  

There were no holiday concert preparations.

Remember the Virtual Choirs?  

I never felt spiritually connected to that genre.  For me it went against everything the choral music art form is supposed to be, and I knew it was temporary.  To spend that much time learning something that was valid so momentarily seemed like a waste of time.  

For the students and teachers who got to be a part of some of the viral versions of the virtual choirs that came about, it certainly wasn't a waste of time, and I admire the commitment of the teachers who tried (some successfully!) to learn how to do it, and to create an opportunity for their children to perform in that way.  

Like all of us, one year ago, I was getting up every day and trying to interpret the latest day to day information about the twists and turns pandemic and how long it would continue to impact the art of what we do.  

When would the vaccine be available to us?  Did that mean the pandemic would end?  If not, how long before life would be "normal" again?

And now...today, we are closer to normal than we were one year ago.

I'm teaching ALL 300 of my students "live".  I've had three shots (two Moderna/one Pfizer).  I don't feel afraid to teach 84 students indoors at once in my classroom without social distancing and with no limits on the amount of time we get to sing.  Yes...we are all still masked.  Yes...I am ready to burn mine...when the time is right...and that time isn't here yet.   

All of my students are now eligible for the vaccine.

So, we are closer now to Covid 19 moving from being a pandemic to having it become endemic.

That means that we are closer to the end of this difficult period for our profession.

My motto all along has been "This is temporary."

And it is.

I'm sure that during this short period of time, there have been choral music educators who have entered and left the field.

There have probably been choral music educators who've been around as long as I have (since 1989) who've decided to leave the profession.

I totally understand it.

We didn't sign up for this.  

And also, there are NEW teachers who are just entering the profession who are hungry for the return to normalcy in choral music programs across the world so they can make their magical, beautiful mark on the art form we all love.

...What a difference a year makes.

The last holiday concert I did with all of 300 of my students together at once was in 2019 when I ripped my pants 2 minutes before the event  Those who follow my work probably remember the photos.  

Good times!

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So, it's November 5, 2021, and we are about to perform our first holiday concert in 2 years!  It happens on 12/10/21.  

We will be in masks.

We will be on "YouTube Live".

We may have a small audience of students from the school so it feels "live".

It will be performed during the school day rather than at night.

Parents will not be allowed in the building to watch, but I will supply the YouTube Live link in case they are able to watch it "live", and I will send the link of the performance to them afterward.  

The kids need it.

So do I.

We have been working diligently on the music since the first half of October, and we are doing some of our favorites.

We will open with "Here Comes the Snow" by Teresa Jennings.  They LOVE it.

I am having all 300 students sing it.  Normally, it would be a 6th grade song, but I feel like it will sound better with all 300 singing it at once, and I've never met a middle school child who doesn't love that song.  

We will follow that with the 8th Graders singing "Carol of the Bells".  They remember hearing the 8th graders sing that song in 12/2019, and they couldn't WAIT to sing it.  It's a tradition.  They've been diligently working to master it.  I've been carefully teaching it since we lost so much ground last year.  I am taking my time so they feel successful each step of the way.  

No middle school concert is complete without something from Roger Emerson!  We will follow Carol of the Bells with "Light the Candles The Hanukkah Song".    It's upbeat, and we can use it to teach syncopated entrances and syncopation in general.  All 300 students will sing this one as well.  It's unison, so I have been using it to help re-align the ability of my students to sing in octaves in tune since I have so many changed voices.  I have really simplified my rep choices this year to help my students rediscover the art of quick self-assessment/self-correction of tuning.  

We will also include one of my favorites, Light Up the Tree by Hank Beebe.  Again, I will have all 300 students singing together.  

We will follow that with with Greg Gilpin's Silent Night/Stille Nacht.  Verse 4 is silently performed with American Sign Language.  It's powerful.

We flow right into the final piece of the program with our candle lighting ceremony with all 300 students when we sing Light the Candles All Around the World by Teresa Jennings.

Normally, my 7th grade boys would have their own song to perform, but not this year.  I decided to focus on getting them out of the basement as well as singing in tune in octaves (changed/unchanged voices are in the same classroom.)

They will be performing only with all of the other groups.  

Actually, the ONLY group that will do a song by itself is my 8th grade group on Carol of the Bells.  I just didn't feel like the rest of the groups would be ready.

Although...my 7th grade Treble Choir is killing it!  They are going to be amazing next year once I get my 7th Grade Boys caught up and ready for the Mixed Choir.

I feel like I am rebuilding a home that was severely damaged in a terrible storm.

And in many ways, I am.

Going slowly and teaching thoroughly and carefully has been my approach.  I didn't want to overwhelm myself or my students.  

I've had to reconsider all previous choices I've made over the years so that I can help my students enjoy the process and have a greater chance of success.

In November of 2022, things will look even better, and I'll report back about the progress we've made.

I hope you are able to see the light.

It's there.