Concert and Julebukking Times

We are in the final stretch of this caroling season. Here are reminders for the next few days.

* Thursday, 22nd, 6:15 p.m. - Lutheran Church for Winter Concert

* Friday, 23rd, 11:30 a.m. - PMC Long Term Care

* Saturday, 24th, Noon - Sing Lee Alley Books to start caroling about town

Songs We are Performing

Hello Carolers, I hope you're keeping warm.

Here are some updates with specifics on songs we will use.

December 17, 1 p.m. - Library Literary
Meet at Presbyterian Church at 12:30 p.m.

• Sing We Now of Christmas
• Bethlehem
• Gloucestershire Wassail

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December 18, 1:30 p.m. - Museum Open House
Meet at Presbyterian Church at 12:30 p.m. Open House begins at 1 p.m. but we are scheduled to sing at 1:30 p.m.

• O Little Town
• God Rest You Merry
• Caroling, Caroling

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December 19, 5:30 p.m. - Practice
At the Lutheran Church

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December 22, 7:00 p.m. - Community Concert at Lutheran Church
Meet at Lutheran Church at 6:15 p.m.

• Sussex Carol
• In The Bleak Midwinter
• God Rest You Merry
• Sing We Now of Christmas
• Let All That Are to Mirth Inclined
• Bethlehem
• Give Peace (with audience)

Performance Dates

Performances 

We have the following performances this season. Updates will be posted as get them.

• Saturday, December 17 - 1:00 p.m. // Holiday Literary at the Petersburg Public Library
• Sunday, December 18 - 1:30 p.m. (?) // Clausen Museum Open House
• Thursday, December 22 - 7:00 p.m. // Community Winter Concert at Petersburg Lutheran Church
• December 23 or 24 - TBD // During Julebukking 

Practices Reminder and Notes

We will continue to meet for practices Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and Mondays at 5:30 p.m. However,

• No practice on Saturday, December 17
• Monday, December 19 practice TBD

Updates to Three Song Sheets

I uploaded new versions of

• Bethlehem
• God Rest You Merry
• Let All That are to Mirth Inclined

These versions have just the verses we are planning to use in-line with the music in SATB choral form, for hopefully easier reading and following.

All the sheet music is found here.

All(*) Song Accompaniments Available

All the song accompaniments are available except "Give Peace." It's pretty much infeasible to put up an accompaniment for that one due to the way it is performed (for those new, you will see what I mean when we practice).

Two specific notes:

• Sussex Carol is in its entirety with all the verses due to how verse 3 differs from the others.
• A Christmas Round is also in its entirety with the "round" included.

Practice Accompaniment Audio Files

I have the three new songs recorded and uploaded for your enjoyment and use. As was the case last year, there are five MP3s for each one and the part in "(__)" tells you what you are looking at.

• The (all) means all parts are at equal volume
• (S) means soprano part is emphasized
• (A) means alto    "    "
• (T) means tenor  "    "
• (B) means bass   "    "

The three songs are

• Bethlehem
• God Rest You Merry
• Let All That are to Mirth Inclined

Audio files can be found on Dropbox. -->  click here  <--

I'll be working to add remaining songs into this same location.

Preparing for 2016 Holiday Season

As the end of October approaches, it's once again time to prepare for caroling during the Christmas season. And that means getting music together and setting up practice times.

In order to facilitate the latter, I'm asking all who have an interest in being a part of this to respond to this survey. It will help determine when to set up practice times.

Closing Out 2015

Thank You Carolers!

2015 is quickly drawing to a close and with it our caroling season has also come to an end. I have to admit that after our very first practice, I wasn't sure if we would be able to get things together in four weeks, but you rose to the challenge. I've received many positive and appreciative comments from around town, and I hope you have too. Next year we may be picking up one more performance - during Julebukking at the Sons of Norway…

[Click through to read rest of e-mail sent out to Carolers.]

[Video] Carolers at the Winter Concert

I know you’re just dying to see yourself singing! Here is a 12-minute video of our performance during the Community Winter Concert on December 21 at the Petersburg Lutheran Church.

Video courtesy of Thomas Stathem.

Carolers Mentioned in Show Me Alaska

Photo credit: Suzanne Ashe

In a write-up of Julebukking and holiday traditions in Petersburg, the Oxford Carolers are the lead-in photo (seen above) of the article.

See the Show Me Alaska aticle here.

During the holidays, Petersburg parties Norwegian-style Nothing says “Merry Christmas” like moose milk, pickled squid, lefse and lutefisk.

Songs for Our Performances

Here are our performances and a selection of songs at each one.

Holiday Literary

December 19 - 1 p.m. at the Public Library. Meet at the Presbyterian Church at 12:30 p.m. for warm-up and quick run-through of songs.

• A Christmas Round
• Rocking
• Sing We Now of Christmas

Museum Open House

December 20 - 1:30 p.m. at Clausen Memorial Museum (Open House begins at 1 p.m. but entertainment will commence at 1:30 p.m.). Meet at the Presbyterian Church at 1:00 p.m. for warm-up and quick run through, and then walk/drive over to museum.

• Caroling, Caroling
• Cold December's Winds Were Stilled
• Gloucestershire Wassail

Community Holiday Concert

December 21 - 7:00 p.m. at the Lutheran Church. Meet at church downstairs at 6:30 p.m. for warm-up and run through. This is based on a beginning/end two-section performance we've done in past years.

First Part

• I Saw Three Ships
• Sussex Carol
• Carol of the Bells

Second Part

• Milford
• Gloucestershire Wassail
• Join audience for carol(s)

Julebukking

December 24 - I still need to speak with PMC when they want us. I think it's usually been around 11:00-11:30 a.m. We'll do three or four at Long Term Care, then one or two near the Nurse's Station before heading out to sing a few songs about shops. Including walking time between stops, we're looking at 60-75 minutes total.

Performance Dates and Places - December 2015

Dates to Mark on Your Calendar

Here are the dates and times to mark on your calendar.

• December 19 (Sat) - Holiday Literary at the Public Library - 1:00-3:00 p.m.
• December 20 (Sun) - Clausen Museum Open House - 1:30 p.m.
• December 21 (Mon) - Community Holiday Concert, Petersburg Lutheran Church - 7:00 p.m.
• December 24 (Thu) - Julebukking around town - time TBD, meeting at PMC Long-Term Care

Caroling Practices

We're getting a later-than-usual start on practicing this year, so in addition to sticking with songs we've used in the past I think we need to meet twice a week. I'm sure not everyone is able to make all practices, but if you are able to make as many as you can that will indeed be helpful.

I am thinking about meeting for practices on Mondays and Thursdays for the next three weeks. We will meet at the Presbyterian Church at 5:30 p.m. for practices.

We have one performance scheduled: the Museum Open House on December 20. Musical performances will begin between 1:30 and 2:00 p.m.

We'll also keep our tradition of caroling about downtown during Julebukking. We've typically gone around on Christmas Eve (24th) so unless there's a major change to the Julebukking schedule, that's when we should plan on caroling.

List of songs and practice accompaniment for 2015

Since it looks like rehearsal period will be quite short this season with my absence during the first part of November, I've chosen to stick with songs that are already familiar to most returning Carolers.

I've uploaded the accompaniment audio tracks here. This will open up to a Google Drive folder containing individual tracks and an "Oxford 2015.zip" file containing all the tracks as a single download.


You should notice that nearly all songs have an (all) version as well as (S), (A), (T), and (B) versions.

• (all) - All four parts at equal volume
• (S) - Soprano emphasized
• (A) - Alto emphasized
• (T) - Tenor emphasized
• (B) - Bass emphasized

The exception is Sussex Carol in which verses 1, 2 and 4 are in (SA) and (TB) combinations and verse 3 is separated into all four. 

Please also note that the tempos are generally slower than what will be used to perform. The ending of the Carol of the Bells is somewhat rushed because I didn't have the time to precisely work out and record the holds and ritardandos properly for each track. I hope you understand. 

Here is the revised song list for 2015.

• Carol of the Bells
• Caroling, Caroling
• Cold December's Winds
• Gloucestershire Wassail
• I Saw Three Ships
• Milford
• Rocking
• Sing We Now of Christmas
• Sussex Carol

Gearing Up for 2015 Holiday Season

Hello Carolers, the holiday season is quickly approaching. As with every year those available to sing with us change, and we are again looking for new members. I can be reached at oxford@mktek.com.

I'll be sending an e-mail to those who were a part of us last year with proposed songs and a link to a PDF of scanned pages for all the songs.

I'll update this site with schedules and such as they are determined.

Here's to a good 2015 season, and a thank you to all who participate!

Carolers - 2014

Thank you to all of you for your time and participation this holiday season. I hope to see as many of you as are able next season!

-- Mark Kubo

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A photo from the Winter Concert, December 22, 2014.

Petersburg Community Winter Concert 2014

December 22, 2014 at the Petersburg Lutheran Church

The Oxford Carolers performed seven numbers during the course of the concert. It was a standing-room-only crowd at the Lutheran Church. A variety of performances were given and enjoyed by those who came.

2014 - Important Dates, Times, Song Lists

Dates and Times

Date/Time	Location	What
18-Dec / 5:30 p.m.	Lutheran Church	Rehearsal
20-Dec / 1:00 p.m.	Library	Performance / Meet 12:30 p.m.
21-Dec / 1:00 p.m.	Museum	Performance / Meet 12:30 p.m. @ Presbyterian Church
22-Dec / 7:00 p.m.	Lutheran Church	Performance / Meet 6:30 p.m.
24-Dec / 1:00 p.m.	PMC - LTC	Performance / Meet 12:50 p.m.

Song Lists

Library

• Boar's Head Carol
• In the Bleak Mid-Winter
• Sans Day Carol
• Caroling, Caroling

Museum

• O Little Town
• Coventry Carol
• Carol of the Field Mice
• Sing We Now of Christmas

Winter Concert

• Boar's Head Carol
• Cold December's Winds Were Stilled
• I Saw Three Ships
• Milford
• In the Bleak Mid-Winter
• Sussex Carol
• O Little Town

Songs Practiced But Not in Programs

These can be used, with the others, during Julebukking.

• A Christmas Round (Welcome)
• Sans Day Carol
• Gloucestershire Wassail

2014 Performances

As of now, we have the following performances scheduled.

• December 20: Holiday Literary at the Petersburg Public Library - 1 p.m.
• December 21: Clausen Museum Holiday Open House - 1 p.m.
• December 22: Winter Concert at the Petersburg Lutheran Church - 7:00 p.m.
• [add] December 24: Julebukking, begin at Long-Term Care - 1:00 p.m.

Practice Music 2014

Here is the practice music for the 2014 holiday season. Click on title to access MP3 audio file. The tempo on these is somewhat slower than what we will be using for actual performance.

• Intro: There is a short (usually 2 measures) intro before the vocal entry.
• Lead-in: There is a drum lead-in to count off one to two measures before vocal entry.

Title	Notes
Boars Head Carol	Intro + 3x
Carol of the Field Mice	Intro + music
Caroling Caroling	Intro + 3x
Cold Decembers Winds	Intro + 3x
Coventry Carol	Intro + 3x
Gloucestershire Wassail	Intro + 4x
I Saw Three Ships	Intro + 5x (v. 1, 2, 3, 6, 9)
In the Bleak Midwinter	Intro + 4x
Milford	Lead-in + 3x
O Little Town	Intro + 4x (v. 1, 2, 3, 5)
Sans Day Carol	Lead-in + 4x
Sing We Now of Christmas	Intro + 5x
Sussex Carol	Lead-in + music