For this concert, Debbie was seated directly in front of me, so she was the only alto whose face I couldn’t see. About half-way through the song, 1:28 to be exact, all four of us forgot our part. Leslie and Missy looked as panicked as I felt. We just kept singing, “Holly, holly,” until we knew it was the end and we rejoined with, “It was the holly.” We managed to pull it together for the rest of the concert, but I remember Missy crying as soon as we got off stage she was so embarrassed and mad. It’s impressive that we failed as a section, at least.

This is my favorite Madrigal Christmas song.

Audite Nova is a German song about a big, fat goose. I love the terse hardness of the language, especially the part that goes, “Rupf sie, zupf sie, sied sie, brat sie, z’reiß sie friss sie!” Or, in English, roughly, “Shear it, pluck it, scald it, roast it, carve it, devour it!” So fun to sing!

Solos by Andy D. and Brian M.

Solos by Lisa C., Jill G., and Renee S.