I’m sure you’ve noticed that it’s that time of year again — the time when so many choirs are busy with Christmas concerts.
But will you be doing the same old Christmas songs that you wheel out year after year? The songs that your audience expects?
This is the one time of year that your audience knows exactly what repertoire to expect. If you don’t slip in a few well-known Christmas songs, they may be disappointed.
But what about you and your choir members? Are you happy to bring out the same old repertoire year after year?
For some choirs, this is an annual ritual (like Christmas tree lights, turkey and heart-warming movies) — something they look forward to and enjoy. Likewise the audience: everyone is happy to sing and hear familiar Christmas songs and carols.
Other choirs avoid a Christmas repertoire entirely. Their audience knows what to expect and is happy to support them.
However, many choirs fall between these two extremes. They’d like to include some Christmas songs, but not fill an entire concert with them. Will this alienate their audience?
Here are some options:
-
same songs, different angle – include your usual Christmas
repertoire, but try different arrangements or present the songs in new ways.
-
add little by little – you might included 50% of the songs you
did last year, but add some new repertoire with a Christmas theme.
-
keep your audience happy, but surprise them too – make sure you
include plenty of well-known carols, but add some more unfamiliar Christmas
fare, perhaps from other cultures. If you don’t want the choir to sing the
well-known songs themselves, include them in an audience sing-along at the end (and
people will leave your concert singing and happy!).
-
advertise clearly – there will be plenty of other choirs locally
covering the familiar Christmas repertoire, so don’t be afraid to try
something completely different. However, because of audience expectations at
this time of year, make sure that your publicity is very, very clear about
the repertoire of you concert.
Whatever you do in your Christmas concerts, I wish you a successful and stress-free festive season!
Chris Rowbury
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