SINGING FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

Christmas is a holiday that every year brings with it a whole bag full of memories. While we look forward all year to the joy and happiness of the celebration, mostly we measure it against the wonderful Christmases of our past, especially the ones where we were the little kids and the presents under our tree were for us!

But there also are some standout Christmases we've enjoyed as we nudged into old age. Today I am thinking particularly of how the Hallelujah Chorus played into my own celebration of the holiday. I really didn't get involved in the singing of this familiar chorus until I went off to school at George Pepperdine College. Because my roommate had chosen a choir class, I decided I would like to participate too, and I added it to my schedule. At Christmas the Hallelujah Chorus was added to our repertoire and I fell in love with it. It was in the second year of chorus that I met my future husband - and from then on, singing became our common denominator (aside from our kids!). Early in our marriage we joined the Alamitos Friends Church and sang it there. In 1964 we moved to Ontario, California and joined the Community Chorus that always sang the Hallelujah Chorus for and with the public during the Christmas Season.

And there is where an odd coincidence occurred. I sang in the Alto section, and unbeknownst to me, another of the singers, Carole Title, also sang every year in that event. I do not recollect knowing her then, but later, a number of years after my divorce, I went to work for Pascoe Steel in Pomona and I met her because she was the wife of Jerry Title, who also worked at Pascoe. It wasn't until after her untimely death, and after Jerry and I fell in love and married in 1975, that I learned that she and I both had sung together in this wonderful community event in Ontario. So every year when I hear this song, I can't help but think of her -- and how much we had in common.

Recently I enjoyed the video below of a group of "Silent Monks" singing the Hallelujah Chorus. It is worth sharing with you this season, and I think you'll agree that it is an amazing, and hysterical performance - one I know Carole would have enjoyed as well.