Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly

Fa la la la la, la la la la! It's the busy Christmas season for us, starting on Saturday afternoon, November 28, at the Festival of Trees, our annual Christmas Recital on Sunday, December 6 and finally, our appearance at the annual Carol Fest on Tuesday, December 8th. By "we," I mean my Grande Prairie Regional College Conservatory Choir, now in our 22nd year of performing, and all of my varied students, aged 6 on up to 17, who will be singing solos and duets as well as singing in the Choir. (Actual photos are going to appear after all of this concertizing), I HOPE!!!!!

This afternoon for 2 hours, we (the choir) rehearsed our 4 songs for the Festival of Trees. We are singing four 2-part selections, one of them an a cappella arrangement of "I Saw Three Ships" written especially for them by our friend and composer extraordinaire, Christine Donkin, who lives in Ottawa now. This arrangement was my best birthday present on November 6, as that is when it arrived, along with my worst birthday present, a very bad cold, cough and all the rest.

Half of our 12 singers are 6 & 7 years of age, and it is so thrilling to hear those little kids sing such difficult music - in tune, accurate notes and musical to boot! The other half are from 11 years to 17, and they really are the foundation of the group. The students who are singing this year work very hard and actually learn their music. Ha! (There have been other years with other singers who were, for want of a better word, lazy). I'll take six itty- bitty kids who work, over 15 who can't pick up their music in-between rehearsals. They really make me proud!

After the Festival of Trees concert finishes, I am then headed to the Grande Prairie Regional College for an evening concert of The Messiah where I sing Soprano 1 in the GPRC Concert Choir. After being sick for over two weeks, it is wonderful to have my high notes back, as there are a flurry of them in this oratorio. Our conductor is a friend of mine, John Murray, who has conducted the choir for many years now, and I am so thrilled to be singing in the choir this year.

Now, before Saturday night, I have to get rid of Linus so I can cut out my skirt for the concert that I still have to sew, and I discovered the perfect ruse today - turn up the Christmas music on the stereo full blast and zap - he's out of here! I haven't seen him for 4 or 5 hours, but I still haven't cut out that skirt. I guess I can't be motivated unless I have to fight off that cat rolling around on the pattern and chewing the glass bead-top pins. The dress I was making for last Christmas still hangs in the "to do" closet with the sleeves sewn in inside out - I believe Linus "helped" me sew that, too.

Ha! I DID finish my new coat for the Christmas season that I began about ten years ago. It is an "in" color, a black and royal blue plaid with a faux chinchilla collar and cuffs, wide shoulders (they're back in now) in a princess style maxi length and lots of thinsulate, good for -40 Celsius. The 10 year- in- the- making- coat was designed before global warming, so it may be too warm, even here in northern Alberta, Canada, but I certainly intend to wear it to all of the festivities this season. Then it's back to the orange coat that I have yet to finish - the one Linus has been laying on for 2 months now.

It seems as though we were just preparing for last Christmas season, and here we are again. Only this year the kids have worked ever so well learning their music AHEAD OF TIME, and I think the crowds are going to enjoy them so much. I know that I will!