Christmas
Verbum caro factum est; and the Word was made Flesh and dwelt amongst us. (Jn 1: 14) For decades the words of the beloved disciple have in a lowly way “taken flesh” in the heartfelt attempts of the Choir to celebrate the Incarnation of the Word in the Nativity of the Lord. Christmas has been held in special esteem by the Choir as a feast worthy of the greatest solemnity and festivity, rivalling only the Paschal Triduum. This dates back to the Choir’s very beginnings, when in 1965 our Director established a youth choir at the Church of St Michael to sing for the Christmas Midnight Mass, a feast that the Choir has unfailingly sung for every year through the decades to this day.
Yuletidings
In 1973 was begun the makings of a time-honoured tradition: the Choir’s annual Christmas Concert, meant as the crowning of the year’s work at the close of the liturgical year, as well as hope in God’s providence in the year to come. First staged while the Choir was at the Church of the Risen Christ in Toa Payoh, initial offerings bore the name of Yuletidings. While initially hewing closely to the format of the Festival of Carols at Westminster Abbey and the Kings College singers, the Choir gradually expanded its repertoire to encompass music that could speak to a wider range of people and tastes. Even in those days, serious pieces such as Benjamin Britten’s A Boy Was Born were to be found alongside crowd favourite Adestes Fideles and even the negro spiritual Rise Up Shepherd And Follow.
Carolling
The Choir was also much featured in the 1970s during the Christmas season either on television or at hotels in the tourist belt. The children’s choir in its distinctive red and white suits were a eye-catching sight both on Christmas specials on television, as well as Christmas light-up ceremonies at Mandarin Hotel and nightly carolling sessions at the Hyatt in the days leading up to Christmas Eve.
At the Cathedral
The move to the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in 2002 brought new impetus to the Choir’s concerts. A new dimension was added to Christmas concerts–that of the yearning for peace that can only be fulfilled in the coming of the Prince of Peace. Here, the concerts departed from their earlier format a lá Westminister’s Festival of Carols into the two-part form they take today. The first part of the concert invariably deals with the Christmas Story: the Fall of Man in Eden, the Protoevangelion of Genesis 3:15 and the Promise of a Savior (He shall crush your head, and you shall strike his heel), the Annunciation to Mary at Nazareth, and the Nativity of the Savior at Bethlehem. The second part, a medley of carols indigenous to countries from every part of the globe, attempts to reflect the universal nature of the Christmas festival in all its diversity. In a testament to the Choir’s versatility under its Founder Director’s leadership, excerpts from carols or songs reflecting the themes of Christmas or joy and peace are performed in the native language and in a style reminiscent of the country’s cultural traditions.
Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Charge d’Affairs were invited to attend and have now become a permanent fixture in the Christmas Concert, decorating a symbolic Tree of Peace on behalf of their countries as a prayer for peace. This annual event now sees the presence of more than 50 Heads of Diplomatic Representations. Various senior cabinet members and government officials have been the guests of honour over the years, including then-DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam (twice), FM Vivian Balakrishnan, Chief Justice, then-Min Ed Ong Ye Kung, then-MND Lawrence Wong and Minister for Defence Dr. Ng Eng Hen. In 2014, the Guest of Honour at the Christmas Concert was the then-President of the Republic of Singapore H.E. Dr Tony Tan.
Christmas for Christian unity
At the invitation of Anglican Bishop Rennis Ponniah, our choir presented its 2017 (Why this Jubilee?) and 2018 (The Joys of Christmas) concerts at St Andrew’s Cathedral. In 2019, our Founder Director was invited to helm and conduct the Combined Churches Choir at the Bicentennial Christmas Concert organised by the Anglican Diocese of Singapore with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as the Guest of Honour. Held from 12-13 December 2019, the concert saw participation by choirs representing the major Christian denominations, including the Anglican and Methodists, with the Cathedral Choir of the Risen Christ representing the Catholic Church. These efforts have served to build a foundation for the cause of Christian unity, and a witness to Christ’s high priestly prayer to the Father for His disciples at the Last Supper, that they may be one. (Jn 17:11)