The Christmas Caroling Concert originally scheduled on December 18, 2008, was cancelled when snow closed the school that day and the next. Then Winter Break began.
All the carolers wanted to reschedule the concert in January, and we set a new concert date of January 15. Another student who hadn't rehearesed in the fall joined us, so we had a total of nine singers. Two singers were recovering from illness and a dental procedure, and arrived half an hour before the concert. Earlier in the day the seven singers at school had practiced again and again a wave bow that everyone wanted do to end the concert. The two late-arriving singers practiced the bow a few times with everyone before showtime.
The rescheduled concert was attended by a good-sized audience, and it was obvious how hard the singers had practiced and how much they enjoyed singing. With some consternation I watched and listened as, in between songs, singers announced to each other and the audience that something didn't work as well as they wanted it to. Then, I relaxed and realized how wonderful it was that instead of being nervous and stiff, every student felt comfortable and confident enough to talk so openly about mistakes. I did ask the performers to hold their comments until after the show--part of learning the ins and outs of performance.
We had so much fun and audience members were so enthusiastic that several singers and I have decided to select and rehearse a program of songs for a spring concert. Stay tuned for more information.
The video above is a sampling of songs from the concert. If there is enough interest, we can create and offer DVDs of the entire performance, with charming outtakes. For fundraising purposes, we would charge a fee for a DVD copy. All proceeds would go to Clearwater. Please let us know if you would like a full concert DVD.
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