Making Christmas (from The Nightmare Before Christmas) (arr. Mark Brymer): SSA Choral Octavo

Mark Brymer's arrangement captures the theatrical charm and intricate layering that define Pentatonix's sound while remaining genuinely singable by school choirs. The SSA voicing opens this arrangement to younger and less experienced singers without dumbing down the harmonic sophistication or the song's distinctive character. Programming this during the winter season gives your ensemble a contemporary performance that feels current while honoring a modern classic.

Whimsical and theatrical, this arrangement draws listeners into the distinctive world of Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" while maintaining the sparkling, rhythmically complex energy that Pentatonix brought to the original. The a cappella texture creates an intimate, modern sound that feels both polished and playful, inviting audiences into a performance that's genuinely fun to sing.

Any choir director seeking contemporary holiday repertoire that connects with singers and audiences alike. This works equally well for high school choirs, middle school advanced ensembles, and community or collegiate groups looking to refresh their winter concert programming with something current and engaging.

• Isolate the vocal percussion parts in early rehearsals. Train your singers to think of these rhythmic layers as instrumental accompaniment, which helps blend the non-pitched sounds into the overall texture rather than having them feel like afterthoughts.
• Balance the melody across your soprano section rather than concentrating it in one voice part. This creates a fuller, more blended sound and distributes the vocal demand across the section.
• Record rehearsal sections and listen back as an ensemble. Hearing your own voicing choices helps singers understand how their part functions within the a cappella texture.
• Emphasize the rhythmic precision between parts. A cappella music lives and dies by rhythmic clarity, especially in contemporary pop arrangements where slight timing shifts become immediately obvious.

Place this as an anchor for a holiday concert set or slot it alongside other contemporary choral music to demonstrate your ensemble's range. The theatrical nature and contemporary appeal make it ideal for freshman or early-in-season performances where you want to capture student and audience attention with something fresh, building anticipation for more traditional holiday selections later in the program.

• Reading and executing vocal percussion notation
• Balancing melody and harmony in a cappella texture
• Maintaining rhythmic independence between voice parts
• Singing contemporary pop idioms with choral polish
• Ensemble blend and intonation without instrumental support