It all started in September of 2003, when a mutual friend e-mailed me an audition announcement for The Voices of Christmas. The professional Christmas caroling group was holding auditions to fill some vacancies.
I had done some free-lance caroling before, but I’d never been part of a professional group, so I decided to head over to the auditions to check it all out. I learned that evening that Lisa Stanley, with her intrepid assistant Pat, booked Christmas caroling quartets for corporate parties, private parties, malls, weddings, restaurants, you name it. They liked to have a large pool of singers from which to constitute SATB quartets.
The caroling season begins the weekend of Thanksgiving and ends on New Year’s Day. The amount of work singers get depends entirely on their availability, and their ability to prove that they know their music.
After I had sung the soprano parts on “Ding Dong Merrily on High” and “The First Noel,” Lisa pulled me aside and told me I was hired. I was thrilled! The next day, I filled out an availability sheet indicating when I could and couldn’t carol.
Rehearsals began in October. We were each given a thick red binder with upwards of 70 carol arrangements. We were also given tapes with our parts on them. At the first rehearsal, Lisa told us what was expected of us: Once we committed to a gig, we could not back out of it. We were also expected to acquire our own costumes, although Lisa did have some pieces she lent to singers. She also recommended a few places where we could buy or rent costumes.
I decided to have my costume made; Lisa lent me a bonnet and blouse to go with my jacket, skirt and crinoline. I had my own pitch pipe, which was important, since the sopranos were expected to blow pitches. We were also assigned the important role of jingling bells, although on many of my gigs other singers gladly volunteered to do this.
Once November arrived, my e-mail inbox was full of short descriptions of my upcoming gigs: where they were, who else was in my quartet, how much each gig would pay, any restrictions on the music (some corporations, for instance, request no religious songs), the date, the time, and any special parking instructions. Each singer was required to e-mail a response back as soon as possible to confirm that we received the instructions.
In addition, nightly we would call the Voices of Christmas phone mail to leave a message about our gigs for the following day. We were required to do this—even if we had no gigs—to insure that everybody knew exactly what gigs they were doing.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a busier December in my life. I drove all over Southern California, and met some wonderful singers. By the end of the season, I’d made about $1,000. I could have made more, mind you, but my December already was busy because of my regular-paying church job.
Since I had moved to Southern California recently, after 25 years in New York, I got to know the lay of the land pretty well by the time December was over! I remember getting a gig in Rolling Hills Estates.
“Where’s that?” I casually asked a friend. “Oh, that’s on the peninsula,” she responded. I nodded before continuing, “Great! What’s the peninsula?”
What surprised me, more than anything, was how people responded to our singing. At some gigs, we were relegated to “background music” while people ate their snacks and slurped their cocktails. At others, though, people truly enjoyed what we were doing. People would request their favorite songs. Children, in particular, were fascinated with these strange singers in big frilly costumes. We would often let them ring our jingle bells while we sang.
My happiest moment caroling was when a lone woman asked us to sing “We Three Kings.” As we sang, I noticed that her eyes started to well up with tears. When we were done, she simply said, “thank you,” and walked on.
When you’re on the opera stage, you have the opportunity to move people to tears, but rarely do you have the opportunity to actually see it happening. The thought that something I took on simply to make money actually touched someone warmed my heart, and made me very happy that I took this job.
Tips for prospective carolers:
1) Be honest about your schedule. The person who runs the caroling group will be very put out if you turn down gigs on days and times that you previously said were free.
2) Don’t make any plans to do anything other than carol in December. Don’t buy theater tickets. Don’t plan to go out to dinner with friends and family. You never know when the phone will ring and you’ll be offered a last-minute gig.
3) Learn your music. Don’t count on the fact that you’re a great sight reader. Many times, you’ll be caroling in less than perfect lighting conditions. Plus, when the soprano calls out the name of a carol and blows a pitch, you’ve got about three seconds to start singing.
4) Invest in a good costume. If you’re planning to do this for seasons on end, it makes sense to get a sturdy costume that won’t show wear and tear.
5) Be prepared to sing all sorts of Christmas songs. Yes, you’ll be asked to use your beautiful, classically trained voice on “Silent Night” and “The First Noel,” but don’t be surprised to find “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” in your caroling book.
6) Keep your car in excellent condition. If you’re late or miss a gig because of car trouble, you not only miss out on the money—you’re leaving three stranded singers wondering what to do.
7) Car pool whenever possible. Get to know the singers who live near you. You’ll save on gas and parking, and you’ll have a great time learning more about that bass in the tall, black top hat.
8) Leave your cell phone on. Again, you never know when that last-minute gig will come through.
9) Check your e-mail often! Sometimes gigs change; a one-hour gig with three singers you were planning to car pool with can turn into a two-hour gig with singers you’ve never met.
10) Smile! Have a wonderful time! You may have done 20 gigs—but your audience has never seen or heard you before.
To see more of the carolers, go to www.voicesofchristmas.com.
