Christmas Carols

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Season's Greetings! It's been a while since I posted because I've been very busy with a local production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. If you haven't read the story or seen the show recently, I encourage you to do so. The text is public domain, since it was published way back in 1843. Here is a link: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46 . It's a beautiful reminder of the human capacity to change and make amends for mistakes, and the incredible importance of human connection and generosity.

We just finished up our second of three weekends of shows, and I am extremely exhausted and extremely grateful. In addition to playing the Ghost of Christmas Present, I have been lucky enough to help with the singing in the show. It's not a musical, but we sing some traditional carols during the show, and before each show some of us get together to sing carols for our guests. It is such a joy to be at the piano with a group of friends singing their hearts out. I thought it might be nice to spread the holiday cheer here on my blog. Here are a couple of videos from this past Saturday evening. Enjoy! 

"Holly Jolly Christmas" 

by Johnny Marks

"Silver Bells"  

by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans

Featuring the beautiful voice of Scott Watson!!

"Winter Wonderland" 

by Felix Bernard and Richard Smith

Quick side note before the final carol- Did you know that so many of the Christmas carols we know and love were written by Jewish composers? This is the case for all three of the songs above, and countless other secular Christmas hits that have stood the test of time. Here is an interesting article on the history of this topic: https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2017/11/30/why-many-classic-christmas-songs-were-written-by-jewish-composers.html

"Feliz Navidad" 

by Jose Feliciano

This one is a sort of blooper. The cast loves singing this one, 
but it turns out that Feliz Navidad is sort of a song-that-never-ends
and is tricky to conclude. I also make a really nice mistake on the 
piano, which confuses my cast member, Jacob :) 

♥This post is dedicated to my late grandma, whose name happened to be Carol ♥ What a perfect name for a lady who brought joy, love, and goodwill to everyone she met. I have so many Christmas memories of her coming over to the piano to sing as I played, and I hope she can get an internet connection in heaven because I know she will love this blog.