What can you sing at your school Christmas/Winter Program?
At this time every year as a music teacher, I struggle with finding appropriate music to put on the winter concert that is held in December. I am still able to call it the Christmas program. I always have been able to. I am lucky, because I don’t have to be so careful with the music I pick out. I can put any sort of songs on the program regardless of religious content or not. I try to mix it up. I usually put secular holiday songs as well as religious Christmas songs together on a program. I have never had any issues from students, parents, administrators or community. In fact I can remember one year I had the elementary students perform a little ‘musical’ about Santa and his goings on in Branson Missouri. I was asked by a pastor’s wife if I could incorporate things about the birth of Christ into this little musical to benefit her kids as well as all the others. This was such an unconventional request. It is usually the other way around, where you are not allowed to use anything related to Christ or religion in any sort of public school performance. We are a very small, close knit community and I don’t think it would ever be an issue if I used religious music for my concerts. But I suppose I should be prepared if it ever becomes a problem just like it has for a school in New Jersey. I found this article quite interesting because the courts upheld the decision to not allow religious music in winter concerts. The schools involved even went so far as to list what holiday songs they deem appropriate and what songs have religious overtones and should not be used. But, the kicker is that the same school, the same music kids, the same teachers are allowed to use these same disallowed public performance songs in the regular curriculum as learning devices. What? Doesn’t that seem quite contradictory? The basis of choral music is religious and I think it is an absolute shame to remove some of the best music just because it comes from the religious side. I found it interesting that this article also said the school has used songs such as "Waters of Babylon (psalm 137)," "Jubilate," and "Agnus Dei/Cum Sanctis" even after 2004 when the complaints had been made. Why are these songs okay, but not “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” or “Silent Night”? My theory is that the aforementioned songs are Latin and the complainants probably don’t know what they mean. That sure sounds cynical doesn’t it?
What is your public school allowed to do? How do you feel about it? Hope you are enjoying the holiday music that is playing everywhere your ear can reach these days whether it is secular or sacred!
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I guess my school is a lot like yours because the chorus teachers assigns whatever she feels appropriate and the students sing it with pride. The only problem I ever remember having was with an African spiritual song. One parent did not like it so her student did not sing that song. Punishing the majority to fit the minority seems crazy to me. The article you talked about seems crazy to me as well because what is the purpose of banning some songs but not others. You did a good job and I say keep singing the songs you want because the chorus teacher should decided!
ReplyDeleteRight now, my school allows all kinds of holiday music. The students sing a mixture of religious and secular music. I believe the songs are chosen to show off the vocal abilities of the students not for their content. I am not sure for how long schools will have this freedom. It only takes one person in a community to start complaining and the freedom to sing any kind of holiday music will be taken away.
ReplyDeleteOur school sings the classics (Jingle Bells, Frosty, Rudolph, etc) but generally shy away from songs that have more religious underpinnings (in choir anyways....band does what they want because there are no words). This is unfortunate because some of the best holiday songs are religious and the kids end up missing out. I think it is absolutely ridiculous the extent we have to go to not offend anyone these days. It should be entirely up to the choir teacher and if a parent has a problem with the music they are singing they should pull the kid out of that class; don't punish everyone because of some hypersensitive parent. Personally, I could care less if you picked a Pagan holiday song, Mormon song or Christian song - heck, if the choir teacher wanted to sing some Elvis I would be down with that too! As long as the kids are having fun and learning.
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My school represents the other extreme- no religious song, period. Religion is a hot button issue with us. I see the difficulty with Christmas songs,most were written when the church was a powerful institution. I agree with Clinton; sing happy, sing loud. Maybe you could work in songs from a variety of religions.
ReplyDeleteSome schools just want to become so PC (politically correct) and cover themselves, it ruins the spirit. There are parents out there who go mad if the word "god" or "christmas" is mentioned because they don't want to hear it. But we all know they are going to spend tons of money on their kids for Christmas. We can't have joy and spirit anymore for fear of someone saying anything. I am glad you have the freedom to express yourself in your Choral program. Others are not so lucky, sadly. I wish we could get over ourselves and realize it is just that time of year and it does kids good to sing and enjoy the idea of Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI think songs should teach a lesson. I think it would be appropriate to sing songs from all religions. The students should be learning the background to the music. My school can sing anything they want but tend to shy away from religious songs, but do sing lots of classic Christmas songs. I think singing religious songs are fine. You are not preaching to them to follow a certain religion, you are just appreciating the music that was written. I listen to all kinds of Christmas music in my classroom and my students love it. We also sing songs about Hanukkah, although none of my students are Jewish. They love all the songs we sing and are curious about what everything means ("What is a dreidel", is one of the most popular questions). I think songs are a great way to teach. Sing it loud!!
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