When do you start practicing for christmas concerts?

[Guest]

I am, for the first time, leading a choir of my own:big grin: and now I'm starting to wonder when we should start practicing for the christmas concert taking place the 10/12, two saturdays before christmas.
It is a girls choir for ages 13-18, unfortunately the last years they have had very few girls ages 13-16, so a majority of the more experienced girls have left us this term. This leaves a group of ca 8 girls that has sung all the songs planned to be a part of the concert, and about 10 new that haven't.
so back to my question, when do you think i should start the practicing for the concert?

[Roslynmuse]

Start now, but introduce some other rep too if you have access to it! You can always take a break from the Christmas stuff after a few weeks and come back to it confident and refreshed. Good luck!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

My policy for practising for Christmas concerts has always been "not until after half-term", which effectively means November. The material you practise in September/October can always be resuscitated in January.

[VodkaDilc]

My policy for practising for Christmas concerts has always been "not until after half-term", which effectively means November. The material you practise in September/October can always be resuscitated in January.

My policy for Christmas concerts was (past tense, thankfully!) much like Eine Alpen's, with a slight modification:
Anything without specifically Christmas content in the last couple of weeks before half term; all carols, etc straight after. Giving the chance to polish everything up in the last two or three weeks.

[ardcarp]

I gather that a well-known supermarket has mince-pies in Christmas wrappers on sale now. The drawback? They are stamped 'best before October 10th'. Make whatever choral analogy you like!

[Y Mab Afradlon]

It;s the same as trimming up and having Christmas in the shops. The closer you can leave it to December the better and then intensity. I remember recording a Christmas album with Aled Jones when he was a treble in August, in 28 degree heat and in shorts ..... need I say more.

[decantor]

My only experience in this area is of practising boys for the Christmas 9 Ls & Cs - and there the answer to the question is "As late as you dare, and then a bit later!" Once the lads had glimpsed a copy of Sir Christemas or In Dulci, their heads were filled with the sound of sleigh-bells, and every intervening Matins, Evensong, or Mass became a drag, a mere hurdle before the real show and home. Ardcarp's mince pies are a meaningful metaphor: start late, eat long.

Not very helpful, Xhaviera - I'm sorry.

[Xhaviera]

Thank you all

Thanks everyone, i think i'll wait until November. wish me luck, i'll need it. and i do think the of topic replays help to, it makes everything less serious, which i need. so again Thank you1