Archive for January, 2016

Lessons and Carols: A Reflection

January 8th, 2016 by arouel16
The Advent of Lessons and Carols was the perfect way for me to end my first semester here at Holy Cross.
We started learning the Christmas songs at the end of October, meaning we had around 5 or 6 weeks to learn the 11 songs we had to sing. Those 11 songs include Christmas classics, a Gospel song with a killer soprano solo sung by Allison Rancourt, a latin responsorial chant and even a piece arranged by Holy Cross’ unbelievably talented organ scholar Abe Ross. Not only was this music about 2-3 times more challenging than I had been singing in the past, but I had even less time to learn it, yet I was very comfortable with the task at hand. The combination of the exquisite direction of David Harris and the wonderful singers that surrounded me made me confident that I could learn every song by the concert. Not only did I learn the songs, but I improved as a singer. I’ve never had to use the letter “z” as much I did the past month, but you better believe my tongue is almost permanently in that position! Throughout the month I found the quality of my voice improving as well as the strength and durability of my voice. I not only had the pleasure of learning fantastic songs, but my voice improved as well.
The Lessons and Carols concert was easily one of the best concerts I’ve been a part of. Singing with a smile on my face isn’t usually difficult, but it’s usually something I have to be fairly conscious of. This concert it more difficult to keep a straight face then to smile. Every piece we sang produced a moment that gave me chills all over my body. I found myself so in the moment, so focused on the task at hand, that I started noticing harmonies and parts of songs that I hadn’t noticed before. Each song had unbelievable energy and I could feel it coming from the group. It was pretty indescribable, but everybody who sang in the choir knows exactly what I’m talking about.
Overall I left the concert feeling incredible. I am so thankful to have been able to sing with David and everybody else in that concert. I not only had a great time during the concert, but I had so much fun the whole semester singing with this group. I’d like to thank everybody for being so welcoming and I can’t wait to kill it next semester with you guys. Catch you on the flippity flip. – James Falconer ’19