A Festive Christmas Trilogy: SoundTrax Digital Audio Download

Hayes brings sophisticated arranging craft to holiday choral repertoire without sacrificing singability or joy. The trilogy structure gives directors flexibility to program complete storytelling or select movements as individual concert moments, and the inclusion of recorded accompaniments and instrumental parts makes this genuinely practical for groups without piano accompaniment resources.

Warmth and celebration without sentimentality. Hayes's arrangements sparkle with harmonic color and rhythmic energy, creating the feeling of a well-orchestrated holiday gathering where every voice has something genuine to sing. The trilogy structure builds from opening brightness to deepening festive reflection, leaving singers and listeners energized but satisfied.

This works for choirs of mixed abilities seeking a substantial holiday offering that sounds polished and festive without requiring soloists or unusually high tessituras. It suits groups programming a full concert or those building a compact, memorable closer that audience members will actually remember after the holidays end.

• Reference the recorded accompaniment during rehearsals to nail entrances and shape phrases, especially where the festive orchestration carries rhythmic or harmonic density that might otherwise trip up your ensemble.
• Balance the independence of voice parts against the arrangement's overall harmonic wash; Hayes writes counterpoint that breathes, so resist the urge to blend individual lines into undifferentiated texture.
• Use the instrumental parts strategically in rehearsal to clarify harmonic foundation for singers learning their parts, then gradually remove them as confidence builds toward performance.

Program the complete trilogy as your concert closer for maximum impact, or select individual movements as opener, middle work, or encore depending on the emotional arc of your concert. The variety across the three pieces makes it particularly valuable for groups programming mixed-genre holiday events or those needing a showstopper that doesn't lean on overly familiar arrangements.

• Voice leading and independence across four parts in contemporary harmonic language
• Phrasing and shaping in rhythmically active, text-driven arrangements
• Intonation in major and minor modal areas with sophisticated chord substitutions
• Listening for and balancing against instrumental accompaniment textures