Members of the Christ School choir rehearse with Choirmaster Patrick McMurry.
Choir Ramping up for Christmas Performance
Rehearsals going well for annual holiday program
Strains of Christmas music coming out of Patrick McMurry's classroom can only mean two things at Christ School.
The holiday itself is just around the corner, and so is the highlight of the year for the Greenie Choir – the 84th annual Lessons & Carols performance in St. Joseph's Chapel. Rehearsals are being held four days a week for the December 10 candlelight service, and they are going well.
"We don't really have a weakest link," Drew Hamilton '18 said. "Everyone is holding their own, and there is good collaboration and pitch-shaping."
"Singing Christmas music at this time of the year is a little strange. But it's not a bad thing," Eli Dowler '21 added.
Choir is a tradition nearly as old as Christ School itself. There was already a glee club in place when former organist and choir director Urquhart Chinn arrived in the 1930s. But the program rose to another level in his 36 years.
Patrick McMurry is now in his 18th year as Choirmaster. He does not demand perfection, but does have a list on the wall of the rehearsal space that outlines certain expectations as arriving early, work ethic, body language, energy, attitude, passion, being teachable, doing extra, and being prepared.
McMurry starts every group out with unison, two, and three-part harmony. The goal is to progress into four and five-part harmony in the spring. The Choir performs about eight times per school year, and has sung in the past at the White House and Asheville's Biltmore Estate.
"Music is very much knowing what the person beside me can do," McMurry said. "It takes a pretty special boy to step up and do what is asked. A lot of them will not understand the religious traditions in the music because they weren't brought up in those traditions. I always tell them, you don't always have to believe in what you're singing, but the music needs to be properly performed."
The Christ School Choir will sing this week in chapel before everyone leaves for Thanksgiving Break. Next month's Lessons & Carols involve carols sung by the boys.
