Everything is up (aside from the German Mass/Mass of St. Benedict that the kids should know from Mass already...)!!! It was a lot of work, and you'll hear that my voice is sadly still more than a bit shaky from my cold, but hopefully, the videos are at least useful practice tools! Don't forget that you can download all the files for CDs/iPods for the car, etc. See you all Wednesday!

ALL of our choir pieces are up to download for your cds under the Christmas>Christmas Audio tab. The only things that are not there yet are the small group pieces (TBD) and the congregational mass parts for the German Mass. The files are mp4s, which should integrate well into iTunes. Let me know if you have any problems or if you need a different file type.

One thing to note is that if you're practicing and you notice the kids getting really secure singing along with THEIR part, download the other part and have them practice singing with that as well :)

Enjoy!

Just a heads up that I'm steadily adding to the Christmas Music practice page...I have some more pieces up, as well as slow pronunciation of the Latin (and German verse of Silent Night). I'm really hoping to get the rest of them at least recorded tonight...My voice has been overtaxed as of late due to some heavy singing in 2 choir concerts this weekend, so I'm hoping today was enough of a recovery! I hope you all take advantage of these resources at home to practice.

I'm not sure if you noticed, but whenever possible, I like to find recordings of boys/children's choirs to post as opposed to adults, as I like to show the children what is possible for kids their age! It's totally within their grasp, just means practice and dedication :) The Vienna Choir Boys are an excellent example, but it's also starting in the States too...there is a HUGE choir school now in Salt Lake City!

Also, if anyone is interested, or if it would be more convenient, I could make the audio files available to put on iPods/CDs for the car, etc. Let me know...

In case you hadn't already seen it, the Christmas music page is up and the corresponding Christmas playlist is started as well. You will notice that not all pieces are up yet...I need to make time to record them and also wait for my voice to heal a bit after a bad cold to get the high notes! I will get them posted as soon as I can, because practicing as much as you can at home is VERY important for this Mass. Please check back frequently to see if anything new has been added.

As I told the kids at rehearsal, we have a LOT of music for Christmas Eve as it is a longer Mass. While I can fill time with the organ as needed, I would love to be able to feature their lovely voices as much as possible, so every bit of preparation you do at home will be very valuable! I would love it if the kids could practice at least one song a day, if not all of them once a day! :)

Since it seems to come up every year with parents, I wanted to take a moment to address the Christmas Eve Pageant. This year, it is actually being done a bit differently. Instead of the pageant happening at the Gospel reading during mass, the pageant will actually happen BEFORE Mass, starting at 4pm, and then the Mass will begin at 4:30pm.

It is possible for choristers to do both! :) While we do need to have some singers in the choir to support the carols throughout the pageant, since those pieces aren't really solos, but more congregational, children are welcome to participate in the pageant and then quickly come upstairs to the choir loft as soon as they're done to join us for our preservice music. And hey, no one's saying that they can't sing along with WHILE they're participating in the pageant! :)

Also, just wanted to remind you all about the extra rehearsal we have on Saturday the 22nd from 11:15am-1:00pm. I'm feverishly planning and prepping music for Christmas Eve and realizing that we will have a lot of work to do as the Christmas Mass is longer and requires more music. That is a big reason why the Saturday rehearsal is mandatory--because it is big chunk of valuable rehearsal time for us to prepare everything!

Additionally, it's not required (and I will present the idea to the children on Wednesday), but if there are any small groups of 3 or more who would want to do a "solo" piece at preservice, please let me know so I can work on getting some music together! If so, we will need to have time to rehearse and I will do a final approval after rehearsal on Saturday the 22nd to determine if the ensemble is fully prepared.

I have heard from a few parents about Christmas, but I'm still waiting to hear from quite a few! Please let me know as soon as you get a chance.

Thanks!

**ADVENT**
We're very excited for our upcoming Advent Mass this Sunday (12/2) at 9am. I did hear from some of the choristers that they couldn't find the links to the pieces for this Mass, so I figured I link them here:

Playlist for ALL of the music: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ-fJQIyxXdkqhT1A0l0fmrlkwe1UOGsk&feature=view_all

Almighty God (MELODY): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RR_oqYDqBs&list=PLZ-fJQIyxXdkqhT1A0l0fmrlkwe1UOGsk&index=9&feature=plpp_video

Creator of the Stars of Night (MELODY/lower part): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXNkg_Blc2A&list=PLZ-fJQIyxXdkqhT1A0l0fmrlkwe1UOGsk&index=11&feature=plpp_video
Creator of the Stars of Night (HARMONY/upper part): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUJ_vD3VN8s&list=PLZ-fJQIyxXdkqhT1A0l0fmrlkwe1UOGsk&index=12&feature=plpp_video

**CHRISTMAS INFORMATION**
We are incredibly blessed at Holy Family that our children's choir is given the opportunity to sing for the eve of one of the Church's greatest feast days: Christmas. However, this is also a lot of responsibility for us to prepare and learn music for such a significant day... I am already planning the music that we will be singing, but I would like to have an idea of how many choristers will be singing with us on Christmas Eve.

Please let me know as soon as possible EITHER WAY if your child[ren] will be there on Christmas Eve.

Also, due to the fact that we provide music not only for the Mass but for the Pageant as well, we have a LOT of work ahead of us! For this reason, all choristers wishing to sing on Christmas Eve MUST attend ALL of the following rehearsals (12/5, 12/12, 12/19, 12/22: (SATURDAY REHEARSAL 11:15am-1:00pm) to be well-prepared for Christmas. Please take a moment to mark these dates on your calendars now.

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You all have been doing a great job working with the website and preparing at home. Thanks for your hard work and keep it up! Soli deo gloria :)

Apologies for the delay, but I was finally able to sit down and record our motets for the Advent Mass. They can either be found under the Motets and Propers pages, or you can view the entire playlist for the December 2nd Mass on my Youtube Playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ-fJQIyxXdkqhT1A0l0fmrlkwe1UOGsk&feature=view_all.

The only thing not posted for the Advent Mass is the Resposorial Psalm, for which I need to finalize a few details because I couldn't find a setting I liked enough! I plan to have that ready for the choristers for our Wednesday rehearsal.

Thanks and enjoy!

First off, we are SO PROUD of how the children sang at our first mass. They had a gorgeous, full sound that really carried down well to the congregation. Thanks so much for all of you who took time to practice at home--it really made a huge difference!

Meanwhile, we're already hard at work planning music for our next mass for Advent, and also looking ahead to Christmas already!

Just a friendly reminder, we still have rehearsal as usual this coming Wednesday, 10/31, despite the fact that it *is* All Hallows Eve/Halloween. There is a Mass at 5pm, so we will have to be sure to end right on time (always a challenge for us...) and exit the church quietly....

Thanks again, and see you soon!

With our first Mass quickly approaching, we felt it was important to solidify our new ethos and have that reflected in a new name: Chorus Angelorum. This lovely suggestion was provided by a parent who said that our choristers sound like a choir of angels--high praise indeed, and always a good thing to strive for!

To try and make it as easy as possible for you all to prepare/practice at home for the Mass, I created a playlist with everything we are singing (except the Hymns) at our first Mass on October 28th. Hope this helps!

Click the link below to go to the playlist, and hit "Play All"
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ-fJQIyxXdnfsF6tyPmUztZRCRWZ5uHY