Public School Chorus teachers have trouble finding non-Christmas songs for their "holiday" concert programs in December. Many schools forbid the use of Christmas songs, even when the songs are not religious. Some school districts allow Christmas songs as long as the program also has a Hanukkah song as well as one celebrating Kwanza. It's really too bad because most of the very best songs are Christmas songs --- religious or secular!
So, some chorus teachers will skip the entire issue by using "seasonal" songs about "Winter" or "We're Having a Snow Day." Those kinds of songs work best when you actually encounter winter weather events where you go to school. We never had winter weather in Los Angeles or Houston. Oh well.
I overheard my daughter singing a song from one of my Children's Musicals yesterday. "Wintertime" is a 2-part chorus song from "A Successor to the Throne." The words simply talk about how wintertime is a time of waiting, waiting for the warmth of springtime to come again. It talks about the glistening snowflakes swirling and whirling gently down. At the very end, the chorus shivers and says "Brr!"
Although "Wintertime" is written using an Asian Pentatonic scale, I have often thought it would be a fun song for a Winter School Chorus Concert. If other songs from Musicals like "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" from the movie "Frozen" or "Once Upon a December" from the movie "Anastasia" can be used successfully on a school chorus concert, why not my little Chinese winter song?
So, some chorus teachers will skip the entire issue by using "seasonal" songs about "Winter" or "We're Having a Snow Day." Those kinds of songs work best when you actually encounter winter weather events where you go to school. We never had winter weather in Los Angeles or Houston. Oh well.
I overheard my daughter singing a song from one of my Children's Musicals yesterday. "Wintertime" is a 2-part chorus song from "A Successor to the Throne." The words simply talk about how wintertime is a time of waiting, waiting for the warmth of springtime to come again. It talks about the glistening snowflakes swirling and whirling gently down. At the very end, the chorus shivers and says "Brr!"
Although "Wintertime" is written using an Asian Pentatonic scale, I have often thought it would be a fun song for a Winter School Chorus Concert. If other songs from Musicals like "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" from the movie "Frozen" or "Once Upon a December" from the movie "Anastasia" can be used successfully on a school chorus concert, why not my little Chinese winter song?
I just don't think the custodial crew would like it if you blew snow crystals at the end like they do in my show!
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