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Like many choirs, Magenta has had a busy Christmas season, and I always find myself heading into the holiday replete with the satisfaction of how the ensemble consolidates the year’s achievements through this intensive period of activity. I am sure every director feels this wonderful mixture of gratitude and pride when plans come together and the hours of rehearsal translate into delight on the faces of those to whom we sing.

So my Christmas eve post this year is to say thank you. Specifically to the collection of people who form Magenta, and generally, on behalf of choir directors to the singers without whom we could not make music.

Thank you for your time and energy; for making the effort to come to rehearsals week in, week out after busy days full of Real Life; and for practising your music between time so that what we learn together stays learned.

Thank you for investing your heart and your brain in our endeavours; for bringing intelligence, imagination and empathy to the music we make together so that it doesn’t just sound, it speaks.

Thank you for your courage; for attempting things you didn’t know you could do. Thank you for your delight when it turns out you can do them after all, and for your perseverance when it takes more than one try to achieve them.

Thank you for the personal support you offer each other; the small acts of practical help and personal kindness that spread out from our focus on music-making to enrich all our daily lives too. (And specifically, to Magenta, thank you for helping me get through March 2013. That was not the easiest month in my life, and you significantly eased my burdens.)

And thank you for the generosity of spirit that shines through all these things, and most especially when we join to share our song with others. It is a blessing to be sung to, and without your efforts the world would be a poorer place.

If you wanted to feel good about yourselves, now would be an appropriate moment. Have a wonderful holiday, and best wishes for another year of successful singing in 2014.