Caroling with an International Twist

“Who wants to see Santa?” Lucy Ann Lance called out to the kids who packed the sanctuary at Bethlehem United Church of Christ on Saturday.

“Me!” came the shouts, as tiny hands waved in the air. “I do! I do!”

A few minutes later they got their wish, as the crowd sang “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” – and in walked the merry old man himself.

This was the 14th year that the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra has held a holiday sing-along, but perhaps the first time for some of the tots in the audience who were not yet walking. For those a bit older, the appearance of Santa – who looked a little like Charley Sullivan, the A2SO’s former education coordinator – was definitely the highlight.

Lucy Ann Lance was emcee for the afternoon, and led the audience through favorites like “Frosty the Snowman” and “Jingle Bells” (though not the variation with “Batman smells”). During some of the songs she roamed the aisles, holding a mic up to anyone brave enough to belt it out for the crowd – including one little girl who might just have a theatrical career in her future.

Theatrics weren’t required for “The 12 Days of Christmas,” but a bit of athleticism was. The audience was divided into 12 sections, one for each day, and for each chorus the sections would stand as they sang their part. This meant quite a workout for “A partridge in a pear tree,” but not so much for the folks in the balcony (including The Chronicle), who stood and sang “twelve drummers drumming” exactly once.

The event had an international theme this year. Xiao Dong Wei – a musician who has mastered the erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument – played five pieces, accompanied by Erin Zurbuchen on bass and Lori Zupan on piano. The Chronicle will never again hear “Feliz Navidad” without remembering how this Mexican song sounds played on a Chinese erhu.

The international music continued after the program, when the audience went downstairs for cider and cookies. While kids waited in line to see Santa, a group of UM students from PERMIAS – an Indonesian student association on campus – played “Jingle Bells” using the angklung, a traditional Indonesian instrument made of bamboo.

Similar in some ways to a handbell, each angklung is tuned to a single note, so the song is played by an ensemble, with each person playing one or two notes (depending on the number of angklungs they can handle). The group will be having a performance of more traditional Indonesian tunes early next year, and promised to send The Chronicle details of the time and location when they are available.