The Holiday Season: Choral SoundPax

Mark Hayes's reimagining of this Thompson standard captures everything that made the original irresistible while giving it contemporary polish. The arrangement demands serious musicianship from your singers (precision, rhythmic sophistication, confidence with syncopation) while remaining accessible enough to energize any holiday concert. This is a piece that earns applause the moment it starts.

Sophisticated and infectious. The arrangement wraps holiday warmth in crisp orchestration and swinging rhythms, channeling the glamour of mid-century Hollywood without losing the song's essential charm. It's the kind of piece that makes audiences remember why they love Christmas music.

Intermediate to advanced choirs ready to tackle syncopated pop writing with theatrical confidence. This arrangement works for high school, college, and community groups with solid rhythm section skills and singers comfortable with jazz phrasing.

• Lock the rhythm section (piano and instrumental parts) before combining them with the choral lines; the swing feel hinges on precise ensemble timing between accompaniment and voices.
• Emphasize the crisp articulation Hayes writes into the choral parts; these rhythmic figures are what give the arrangement its Hollywood sheen.
• Balance the singers against the recorded accompaniment during rehearsal so the ensemble feels propulsive rather than buried.
• Work the vocal blend in exposed moments (if there are any) separately from full-section rehearsal; this kind of pop writing benefits from time spent on intonation in smaller groups.

Close a first half or build momentum in the second half of a holiday concert; its energy and polish make it a natural crowd-pleaser. Pair it with other pop-influenced choral pieces to create a curated set that showcases your ensemble's range, or use it to punctuate a traditional concert with contemporary flair.

• Swing feel and syncopated rhythm reading
• Precision ensemble articulation in pop idiom
• Jazz phrasing and interpretation
• Ensemble balance with recorded accompaniment
• Coordination between choral and instrumental parts