The Christmas season is synonymous with wonderful music. Working with Phyllis Aidan Louke on the commission of Come Celebrate Christmas was pure joy. We decided that this arrangement should be versatile: Not only can it be played from beginning to end, each featured carol can stand on its own if you need a short version for a performance within a church service, for example. The arrangement contains three familiar tunes: O Come O Come Emmanuel, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and O Come All Ye Faithful. The total time for the work is about 7’30” (our premiere clocks in at 7’33”). My favorite spot in the work is the use of piccolo juxtaposed with the alto/bass sections in the first hymn: The Altos carry the melody with beautiful countermelodies in both bass flute and piccolo.

We hope you enjoy listening to this arrangement as much as we enjoyed preparing and performing it for our World Premiere in 2024.