The CCC's “Nightmare Before Magical German Christmas” (Part 1)

A reflection on the Chicago Chamber Choir's recently completed Halloween concerts, and a look ahead to our upcoming Christmas concerts...

Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, (in the 1993 movie, “The Nightmare before Christmas”) was an entertainer, as well as a leader. Each year, he strove to make Halloween the best and most thrilling ever for his towns people. Jack was an artist and a musician. He loved songs, art, colors, decorations, dancing and entertainment. He was a man with a vision.

One year, Jack Skellington accidentally discovered Christmas Town, and fell in love with it. He wanted to try to understand this phenomenon of Christmas and bring it to his fellow citizens. His new vision was to inject a Christmassy twist into Halloween, to make it the best, most exciting thing ever for them. His fundamental goal? He wanted to entertain his citizens, and more; he wanted to inspire them, excite them, and make them happy.

Timm Adams (our Artistic Director) reminds me of Jack Skellington, not just because he wore the Jack Skellington costume, at the end of “This is Halloween” during the concert, and danced and twirled down the aisle so dramatically in it. Timm reminds me of Jack because he too is a man with a vision. He too has a passion for music, art, dancing, and entertainment. He too wants to inspire, excite and make his audience happy.

And, in the process, he makes us singers of CCC happy too. We love enacting his vision and bringing it alive. We love to be part of this creative, inspiring process, and connect with our audience too, through the magic of our singing and performance.

No matter what our “theme”; be it Halloween, Christmas, “nature”, the elements, etc, Timm brings to CCC a sense of purpose and cohesiveness. And he enables us to express and show these ideas, these visions, with conviction and dynamic passion.



And, what an epic series of Halloween concerts it was. This year's performances went further than last year's, with more drama, more acting, more movement, more choreography. From the serious and poignant “Come Sweet Death” by J.S. Bach, to the frivolous and irreverent “Time Warp”, and all the fun, show-stopping songs inbetween, it was a resounding, visual and musical success.



“Well, you'll never be a Show Choir”!” Timm joked to us, after our very first run-through of the “Time Warp”. There we were, awkward and stiff, and not a little self-conscious, practicing our “pelvic thrusts” and thinking “Seriously? We're going to do this in a CCC concert?” But, we had faith in Timm – our Jack Skellington, our Pumpkin King. And it worked. And it was fabulous.

How appropriate it is that we are now transitioning from this Halloween adventure, to our new, exciting Christmas concert series. Our focus now is on the magic of Christmas in Germany.

And how sweet a theme this is. Everything about Christmas in Germany is magical – think gingerbread houses, Christmas trees, wooden toys, little fruit dolls, decorated cookies, pastries, marzipan, candies, spiced cakes, fruit bread, sausages, sauerkraut, mulled wine, and Christmas ale.

In our Christmas concerts, CCC will sing a resplendent German work – the Bach Magnificat, for chorus, soloists and chamber orchestra. For this, we'll be joining forces with the sublime Amadeus Consort.

Also on our German menu, we will be offering the exquisite sounds of traditional German carols, sung in English, German and Latin. Familiar gems such as "Still, Still, Still", "Lo How a Rose e'er Blooming" and "Stille Nacht" (Silent Night) will tap into that magical quality of Christmas in Germany, and bring a sense of joy and wonder to our audience.

For more details, and to buy tickets, please click on this link here:

CCC WEBSITE - BUY TICKETS

COMING UP NEXT, in PART 2...

The Stories and Music of Christmas in Germany

* The legend of the first Christmas Tree. Discover the story of how Martin Luther, in early 16th century Germany, discovered and brought home the first Christmas Tree into his house.

In our Christmas concerts, CCC will sing “O Tannenbaum” (Oh Christmas Tree) the famous German carol dedicated to the Christmas Tree.

* Christmas Eve in Germany. Learn about the German tradition of revealing the Christmas Tree only on Christmas Eve, to the awe and wonder of young children who enter the room and see the tree all lit up and decorated with candies, cookies, fruits and toys, with treats and presents under it.

* The true story of the World War 1 Truce on Christmas Eve. Learn about the German soldiers who, on Christmas Eve, put up a line of little Christmas trees along the top of their trench, and began singing “Stille Nacht”. This led to a 24 hour truce, with German and British soldiers actually coming together, talking, sharing gifts, sharing carols, and eating food and drink together. How music and the magic of Christmas brought peace between them – for 24 hours.

In our Christmas concerts, CCC will sing “Stille Nacht” (Silent Night) - the famous German carol, that has become known and loved throughout the world.

Please stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon...

To watch some videos from our latest Halloween concert, please click on this link:

CHICAGO CHAMBER CHOIR on YOUTUBE