Beautiful Music

One of my friends described her son to me recently. “If we do something once, he thinks it's a tradition.” How well I understand! And, in my opinion, there’s no better time for traditions than Christmas. One of mine is attending Christmas Concerts-- connecting me all the way back to when I was a proud participant in our school choir’s Christmas concert.
Every school, church and choral society gives a Christmas concert in Charlottesville. Over the years, I’ve chosen my favorites. Each has a quality that adds a dimension to my Christmas season. I sometimes go with friends. Supper before or after a concert is a way to see people at a time when everyone is running in different directions. If no one is free, I go on my own and enjoy the music and the other audience members.
The following is a pictorial tour of some of the fun I had last month.

December 2nd was the Winter Concert of the Charlottesville High School String Orchestra. Listening to 140 teenagers playing classical music and jazz together was a treat.

The 69th Christmas Concert of the Virginia Glee Club took place on December 4th. The Glee Club is a male a capella group founded within the University of Virginia and still largely a student-run organisation, although it is no longer a part of the University. Part 1 of each Christmas concert is a showcase of their serious talent.

Part two shows their raucous undergraduate humor

especially the traditional audience-participation version of The Twelve Days of Christmas. During this, different sections of the audience represent different “days of Christmas”. The Glee Club reserves “5 gold rings” for themselves -- and change the words with each repetition. “Five kegs of beer” and “five first year girls” come up regularly. The last repetition lasts forever. Antics take place on stage

and other club members range the audience throwing candy. It’s hard to be morose after this concert.
December 5th was the Consort concert. This is a group of 35 adults, amateurs but very good ones. Their director’s choirs for children and teenagers also sing.
Some audience members come only to hear one singer

Others, like me, enjoy the whole choir.

The director chooses joyous music and enthusiastically explains each piece they are about to sing.
As we file out at the end smiling broadly, choir members sing and play one more song as they hand us chocolates. It makes you want to rush out and be kind to all you meet.


My favorite event of the musical season took place on Dec 8th – the 41st edition of the Messiah Sing-in. Upwards of five hundred students and community members come together to sing large selections of Handel’s Messiah with a volunteer orchestra under the direction of the Professor of Music (now emeritus) who started it all in 1968.


December 12th brought another mood entirely as I attended a concert by Zephyrus, the most professional of the groups I hear. They specialize in 16th century sacred music and are a joy to listen to.

The Zephyrus concert was particularly special to me this year as one of my new tenants accompanied several of the pieces.
There should have been one more concert on December 19th but it was cancelled because of the snow. But that is another story.

Beautiful memories.