We Wish You a Merry Christmas: SoundTrax Digital Audio Download

Lantz's jazz-inflected take on this holiday standard moves beyond the predictable; the arrangement brings genuine style and harmonic color while keeping the melody immediately recognizable. Built-in staging and movement elements mean your choir can deliver a performance with real presence, not just sound. The availability of instrumental parts transforms this from a choral piece into a full musical moment.

Smooth, modern, and surprisingly warm. The jazz harmonies catch light where you'd expect tradition, creating an arrangement that feels contemporary without abandoning the song's essential comfort and familiarity. There's movement built into the music itself, inviting your singers to perform with energy and presence.

Directors programming holiday concerts who want an arrangement with genuine personality and performance dimension. Choirs at intermediate to advanced levels will find the jazz voicings engaging without requiring specialized jazz technique. Works for school choirs, community groups, and church choirs looking to refresh a holiday standard with style.

• Reference the recorded accompaniment early in rehearsal to lock the harmonic and rhythmic language of the jazz voicings; your singers will absorb the style faster by ear than by reading alone.
• Work the staging and movement cues deliberately rather than adding them as an afterthought; when blocking is integral to the arrangement, it should influence your phrasing and ensemble cohesion.
• If you're adding instruments (parts are available), rehearse sections with and without them separately so singers own the melody independently before layering in accompaniment.
• Balance the jazz harmonies carefully in your voice parts; these chords reward precise intonation and a lighter, more unified blend than traditional choral writing typically demands.

Place this in your holiday concert where you want to shift tone and showcase your choir's versatility; it pairs naturally with a cappella work or a classical arrangement to show range. The staging elements make it an effective crowd-pleaser that closes a set or opens the second half with momentum. If you're building a concert around jazz-influenced material, this is an accessible anchor that audiences recognize immediately.

• Jazz harmony and chord voicing comprehension
• Rhythmic precision in syncopated passages
• Performance presence through integrated staging and movement
• Blend and intonation in extended jazz harmonies
• Collaboration with instrumental accompaniment