What makes the holiday season so special? Is it the food? The decorations? The weather? I believe one of the most important parts of the holiday season is the music. We use music to reflect feelings, culture, and nostalgia, and it’s no surprise that we make it such a large part of the holiday season. For many, the most favored way to start off the season is to put on some holiday tunes while decorating the tree or baking sweets. Personally, I love listening to Christmas classics while baking brownies, snickerdoodles, and other desserts. Sitting by the fire with some hot chocolate while listening to slower tunes as starlight dances on the snow is another favorite experience of mine. But one of my favorite ways to get into the Christmas spirit is by making the music myself, or watching others perform in holiday concerts.
The Andrews University Symphony Orchestra presented their holiday concert last weekend on Saturday, December 3, at the Howard Performing Arts Center. Directed by Dr. Élysée, the concert featured two soloists and several opportunities for different instrumental sections to shine. During one of the pieces, the audience was even invited to sing along to the songs they knew. This was a wonderful opportunity to keep the audience engaged and promote the holiday spirit. The concert hall was full of festive light, not only from the people and music but also from the Christmas lights hung from the ceiling, the garland wrapped along the balcony and choir seating rails, and lovely wreath that decorated the room. The audience was full of people attending for various reasons, including families coming together, friends supporting the performers, and couples hoping to have a festive date. Everyone there loved the music and the time spent with loved ones, along with the chance to get away from the busy bustle of campus life.
Christmas is a time of year to reconnect with loved ones, take a break from the seemingly endless cycle of everyday life, and enjoy some festive tunes. The orchestra concert opened with Leroy Anderson’s medley “Christmas Festival”, which brought many different moods of Christmas to the stage, including the tranquil melody of “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” the playful style of “Winter Wonderland,” and the jazzy swing feel of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”.The medley was a last minute addition to the repertoire, and the thrill of sight reading music the night of the concert was terrifying yet extremely enjoyable for myself. The audience enjoyed singing along to some of their favorite carols during the piece. They also performed the “Christmas Eve Suite” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, which is the musical background to a Russian Christmas story. This piece was the most technically challenging, requiring much practice and several rehearsals to learn. To assist the audience, Dr. Élysée included a little “study guide” of sorts with the different melodies and had a member of each section play a small phrase to assist in telling the story. Starting the second half of the event was “Sleigh Ride” (Leroy Anderson), a popular Christmas song. “Sleigh Ride” was perhaps my favorite piece to play, even though it wasn’t challenging. What made the piece fun was the rush of getting it ready right before the concert started, almost like rushing to put Christmas dinner on table after a long day with family. Even though it was last minute, the audience absolutely loved it. The concert ended with a piece not on the program, and it was a pleasant surprise. “Breath of Heaven” (Amy Grant) was a beautiful closing piece, featuring vocalist Davielle Smith (junior, math and music). There was an amazing sensation as her voice filled the performance hall, as if it could be soaring and then gracefully breezing by as the dynamics changed. The final note found many in the crowd on their feet, applauding the soloist and the ensemble.
Music is one of the most important aspects of the holiday season. Whether you like the classics, the suites, or the modern Christmas pop, there’s always a genre of Christmas music for you. One of the qualities that’s often overlooked is that music is made to make you feel something. During the holiday season, music can be used to help you feel festive, reverent, nostalgic, or all three. Oftentimes, we forget that the human mind makes connections in music, and those connections bring out all sorts of emotions in a person. For instance, when I hear the song “Silver Bells,” I think of walking city sidewalks at night while it’s snowing outside and the Christmas lights make the snowflakes sparkle as they fall to the ground. Hearing songs like “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Here Comes Santa Claus” bring a festive mood to any room, and make me think of Christmas parties with friends. There are so many songs that bring out the holiday spirit, and they each play a role in how we celebrate the holidays. Hopefully you can go for a sleigh ride and have yourself a merry little Christmas.
For those who wish to further support the music department, the holiday performance for University Singers and Chorale will be held this Friday on December 9, 2022 at 8pm. Future concert dates may be found on the Howard Performing Arts Center website, including upcoming performances in January 2023.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.