Shameless plug...

I love Christmas. I have always loved it and when I was 12 to when I was about 18, I loved it even more for a particular reason - Christmas concerts at church. My sister, Lindsay was in charge of running a youth choir and every Christmas we would put on a concert. They were always so well attended, the church building was full to capacity over the two nights of the concerts and it was always the highlight of my year. Rehearsals would start in October, once every couple of weeks. It was sometimes hardgoing as Lins is a perfectionist and knew how things should sound and how she wanted it to sound and so when it came to the performances, they were always amazing. Everyone who performed forgot all about how hard some of the rehearsals were (and how much of a taskmaster Lins was! :) I know that she will read this and I don't mind saying it because she knows it's true!!) and just loved being able to be part of such a great musical event. Even now, every Christmas I reminisce about those times and I can remember every song that was sung and the alto part to all of them! I composed a couple of pieces which were performed at the concerts. It was so special for me to hear what was an idea in my head being performed by a choir and hearing people walking around and humming the music that I had composed.

During mine and Seth's time in Lancaster, I met Sue Kureczko. Sue also loves music and when I heard that she wrote music, I was very eager to speak to her. We have worked together on many songs, about 17 I think, most of which are Christmas songs. Sue would give me the lyrics and the melody and I would come up with an accompaniment and the parts (soprano, alto, etc) to them. I had so much fun doing it and could literally spend hours working on the songs, without even realising that the time was passing! Seth always made sure that I stopped working on them at least an hour before bed because otherwise I couldn't sleep. I would have tunes just going through my head and it would keep me awake for hours. When Seth and I moved to London, life got busier and I haven't had the chance to work on any music with Sue for a while, but I am going to be getting back into it very soon, which I can't wait for!

So, as I said, shameless plug.... if any of you out there are choir directors, sing in choirs, are looking for music to perform in any Christmas concerts or any church event, check out Sue's website. All of the music on there can be performed as solos, by groups or by a choir. If you decide to use any of the music, let me know as we would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions that you might have! Enjoy!