But as Advent wound its way toward Christmas, 2025, I had the unique opportunity to witness two family members of different generations express Christmas through music.
We heard daughter Rebecca as one of three soprano soloists in multiple performances of choral music by German composer Michael Praetorius (1571-1621), and entitled “Praetorius Christmas Vespers.” Jeannette Sorrell, the artistic director of Apollo’s Fire, Cleveland’s Baroque Orchestra, had created the Vespers from a number of Praetorius’s works for the season. Rebecca is a professional singer, and she performed beautifully, as did the entire ensemble. The performance was in Cleveland’s magnificent Trinity Cathedral. As we walked back out into the world that night, I felt I had just heard all of the Advent and Christmas music I needed for this year; that anything more would be superfluous.
And we watched granddaughter Keira dance the challenging “Dance of the Reed Flutes” in the annual Nutcracker performance by the Fokine Ballet Company of Oneonta, New York. Under the direction of Donna Decker, this company of children and youth students (supplemented by professionals from the Dance Theater of Harlem in key roles) presents a complex performance with remarkable skill. Ninth-grader Keira tackled her 2 1/2 minutes alone on the big stage with a focused commitment, and danced beautifully.
It was deeply gratifying to witness these two engaging with music. Rebecca has been at it for years, building upon singing before she could speak words. She has accomplished far more than her mother and I ever dared dream. Keira is still near the beginning of what could be a career in ballet, but at this point there is no predicting where she will find purpose in her life. One thing for sure: she will never forget all it takes to make a dance come to life.
As a father and grandfather, I have had a good seat from which to watch Rebecca and Keira nurse and nurture their artistic gifts into artistic accomplishment. I have not witnessed the hours of study and lessons and practicing that their achievements have required, but I have heard the trials and triumphs of learning an art, and seen exceptional results. Inborn talent is one thing; developing that talent into artistic success requires just plain hard work.
Given their parents’ and grandparents’ interests, it is not surprising that Rebecca and Keira have chosen to pursue arts that are outside the popular mainstream. Michael Praetorius and The Nutcracker belong in the realm of classical music, hardly known to most Americans, if known at all. But that is where we are.
Now, allow me an abrupt detour to the gospel of Luke, the first couple of chapters of which are better known. I do not know how the writer of Luke felt about “the arts,” but they certainly seem to have known the value of song, poetry, and drama when they fashioned their book’s birth narratives. Luke’s telling of the birth of Jesus exists in that place in art where things become true whether or not they happened just that way. They are true because of what is universal in them—their joys and their fears, their hopes and their tears. Luke’s telling of Jesus’s birth touches the heart as Christmas Vespers and The Nutcracker do, whether that heart is fully formed or still in training.
To witness our daughter and granddaughter working so hard and accomplishing so much in pursuit of their arts’ truth have made my heart sing this December. They and their colleagues have elevated my celebration of Christmas—both religious and secular—in ways I do not fully understand, but which are true. I am overwhelmed with humble, grateful awe.
How very beautifully you write about these dear ones and their impact on your own faith. May every parent and grandparent be so blessed.
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