Christmas planning ideas for choir leaders

How to choose Christmas songs and get organised well ahead of the first rehearsal.

It’s nearly here – can you hear the bells jingling around a dark corner beckoning you forth?

My bells start jingling in August as I start to think about holiday selections. Some of my choir leader friends think I’m odd but they’ve come around! It feels good sitting here, knowing I’ve chosen my whole repertoire for the season! I’ve even chosen the songs from our previous repertoire to complement our new season for all of our Christmas shows!

Here’s how Choir Player can make it easier:

1. I sit down and go through the Choir Player song list filtering only the Christmas songs for easier selection (the link takes a few seconds to load but it’s pre-filtered for you).
2. I choose 5-7 songs depending on how difficult they are and how long they might take me to teach. I always find it useful to show the members all the songs for the season. I find it acts as a carrot, a motivator if you will!
3. I add those songs to my Choir Portal ahead of time so I know that when I announce – they will all have their tracks ready! It means that the extra keen among them can get that oh so important head start that they can be pleased with at rehearsals (surely we all have those members?!)….
4. I ask my members to wear a Christmas item to the season launch rehearsal…..

It’s hard to take Christmas seriously in October – but it’s such a good idea if we want time to be the best (and most organised) we can be.

My hot tip for this years Christmas’ shows is O Holy Night. It’s a never fail choice that literally makes people weep! We’ve also got sheet music for it.

You can learn more about the Choir Player Christmas repertoire of songs here.

Jane Reeves
Musical Director, Choir Player

Photo below is me with one of my choirs singing in Trafalgar Square using Choir Player of course!