The annual Christmas choir concert is a great way for many Benet families to kick off the Christmas season. Everyone is able to gather together and enjoy a night of Christmas carols. Though a fun Benet tradition, this concert is the culmination of weeks of hard work for choir students. While everyone else was carving pumpkins in preparation for Halloween, the four Benet choirs were already starting to prepare Christmas carols for the concert. The Christmas concert has always had the shortest preparation time, but despite the quick turnaround, the choir is able to bring Christmas spirit to all who attend their performance year after year.

The freshman choir sang three songs in this year’s concert, and when freshman Madeline Chang (‘20) was asked which one was her favorite, she replied, “the last one, ‘Rise Up, Shepherd,’ because it was the most fun to sing and the most exciting.”
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The sophomore choir also performed three songs, but the clear favorite among the choir was the Medieval “Carol of the Birds.” Aavia Shetty (‘19) was no exception, saying, “‘Carol of the Birds’ was my personal favorite because of its new take on Christmas songs. It’s unique and sticks out because of its darker tone and longer vowels. We are all used to the same old ‘Jingle Bells’ type genre so it felt refreshing to be singing something so drastically different for once. We worked the hardest on this song and stepping on that stage brought out a Christmas spirit which allowed us to convey the Christmas message we bring every year.”
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The Madrigals were stunning, and the song that stuck out the most was their performance of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” It was the most popular carol performed at the concert and was definitely enjoyed by all ages in the audience. Everyone enjoyed the quick trip down memory lane, remembering the happy times of watching Rudolph as a child.

The Chorale, made up of juniors and seniors, performed five songs, concluding with “When the Song of the Angel is Stilled.” This was also Alyssa Buena’s (‘18) favorite song, and she loved it because “it was a cappella, and when we are all together, we have a really good sound with all the intricate harmonies.”
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The concert also featured the ILMEA choral nominees, who together sang one of the selections prepared for their audition, “Direva ni Mungu.” This group of students, made up of some of the best singers from the sophomore and Chorale choirs, have been working hard through the past few months to prepare for ILMEA auditions. All these preparations paid off, as the group sounded amazing at this year’s performance, and their upbeat song added a lot of fun to the concert.
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After all four choirs had performed, the concert wrapped up with a rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Each day featured a different popular composer from a different country and time period. It began with a Gregorian chant from fourth century Italy, included music by Vivaldi from 18th century Italy and Tchaikovsky from 19th century Russia, and concluded with “Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa from 20th century America. This unusual piece provided the crowd with a new and exciting version of a well-known Christmas carol and transported the audience on a journey through some of the most famous pieces of music ever composed.
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This Christmas concert was a great way to bring holiday cheer to people of all ages and truly showed off all the hard work that the choir puts into preparing for their annual performance. The concert was a heartwarming Christmas experience, and everyone is eagerly awaiting next year’s show to see what new songs it will bring.