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Voices of Christmas
Even as a no-longer Christian, Christmas carols do have a special place in my heart. When we broke out the Christmas decorations as a kid, for as long as I can remember, that job was accompanied by records playing Christmas music, which continued through most of December. Hymns and Christmas carols--and singing them, not just listening--have been part of my life going back to the dawn of memory. I went caroling with the church to shut-ins. When I was in college, a bunch of us went around caroling to dorms each December, and as a music teacher, one of my groups always went caroling around campus each year before break.
The role of Christmas carols has gradually diminished in my life. I don't go to church any more, I don't conduct a choir, I don't seek them out on the radio, and until right before Christmas, I don't play them on any form of home audio. This year, my December will look--and more to the point, sound--different from past years, however. Last year, as regular readers know, I moved to Providence and had the opportunity to join a small, wonderful choral group. Two members of that group, a husband and wife, are part of another singing group to which they invited me this year. The group is called VoX (Voices of X-Mas), and as the name implies, this is a seasonal group, and it is such a wonderful thing to be doing.
I'm still getting a feel for the group, but the largest part of what the group does seems to be nursing homes and other "charity" performances. A significant portion are also "for pay" gigs, and some of them seemingly for a good bit of pay (I'm not involved in that end of things, just a singer). The thing is, that money all ends up being given away. After any minimal expenses are paid, the money that we raise from singing is donated to local charities. Last year, VoX gave away $2000. The group raises people's spirits and raises money to help others, all by doing something that we love doing anyway: singing. The group is also a heck of a lot of fun on the side--the weekly rehearsals are all concluded with a shared meal and sociability. The checklist for membership in the group, if I recall, included a love of singing, a love of red wine, and liberal leanings. Well, I guess I can manage.
Last night was my first performance with the group--my cold kept me out of the handful of performances which opened the holiday season. This group, incidentally, has been performing together for around 15 years, and at some point early in its evolution the singers started dressing as Victorian carolers. For me that meant my tuxedo finished off with a top hat and a scarf. Only one problem: no top hat. And, until very shortly before I was due to leave, no way to get one since my fiancee had the car. I called a tux shop down on Main St., which had one top hat left, a medium. Well, I don't know what that means, I still have to get dressed and I haven't eaten anything. After an abortive attempt to measure my head with a pair of jeans (it made sense at the time--i.e. while I was on the phone with the tux shop proprietor), I settled for an electrical cord and called the place back with my measurement: I was treading the delicate line between a medium head and a large head, and the return policy seemed forgiving, as long as I didn't fill it with wassail or something. So Lauren went dashing off to pick it up while I dug out my tux. The tails I still have from high school would have been more fitting, except they weren't so much "fitting." I would have been the Victorian era's "big man in a little suit" gag. The dinner jacket tux was fine, though, and I grabbed a quick bite to eat. Lauren got home just in time, and headed out to sing at a nursing home in East Greenwich. I guess the group doesn't normally go so far, but this was one of the first places they sang, back when it was on the south side of Providence, so they've maintained that relationship despite some minor inconvenience, and that's something that's pretty cool too, the history the group has and the connections it's made over the years.
The performance itself was good. We've got about 60 songs in our folder (I guess you tend to build these things up over 15 years); some songs are familiar hymns, but a number are jazzy or otherwise interesting arrangements, and with 60 songs in the folder there were a couple that were brand new to me at the performance. It's good to be the new guy, I get all the fun! Of course, I am a Consummate Professional, so I was able to look like I was having a good time and make eye contact with the audience while sight-reading music. I probably even got some of the notes right.
Certainly, though, I helped make people happy. Meeting and greeting our audience afterward, it was so touching, how touched they were by our presence and our performance. It's going to be a good December.