‘Going to Bethlehem, see that baby…’ As the majestic interiors of the historic Mateer Memorial CSI Church at LMS Junction in Thiruvananthapuram reverberate with the high-energy carol, it feels like Christmas has arrived. It was a chilly Sunday evening and the choir was having a practice session under the supervision of their choirmaster Premchand J.
Earlier in the day, I was treated to melodious numbers by the choir at St Peter’s Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Simhasana Cathedral near the Government Secretariat.
It is that time of the year when church choirs in the city get ready for carol service programmes organised by various organisations and the respective churches in the run-up to Christmas.
Kicking off the season is YMCA Trivandrum’s Christmas carol service scheduled for December 7. “The carol service is over seven decades old and we hold it on the first Sunday of December. Over the years, it has become a matter of prestige for choirs to find a place in the event. Like last year, 17 choirs will perform this year,” says Varghese Joseph, vice president, YMCA Trivandrum.
Another programme in the festival calendar is the one by United Christian Movement (UCM), an ecumenical organisation of 13 Christian denominations and 83 member churches in the city and suburbs. “We call it United Christmas Celebrations and the speciality is that this is the 75th year of the celebrations. As of now, 15 choirs have registered for the event. The number might go up,” says Chevalier Koshy M George, chairman, UCM Christmas Celebrations.
Another Christmas event that many choirs look forward to every year is the one organised by Abundant Life, an ecumenical Christian group consisting of Bishops, Metropolitans and Cardinals of various sects as patrons.
Most of the choirs start their practise some time in September or October. “Since we sing originals every year at the YMCA’s event, I begin working on the compositions many months prior to the event. Lyrics are often written by Santosh Kodanad, who has penned many carols for us. Fellow musician Shibu Joshua helps me with the compositions,” says Reji Abraham, choirmaster of St Peter’s Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Simhasana Cathedral for over two decades now.
He adds, “Writing the lyrics is not easy because we have to work with a stock set of words related to Christmas. Say manju (snow), malakha (angel), nakshathram or thaarakam (star), pulkkoodu (manger) etc. Once the lyrics are ready, the church head has to clear it. The choir starts practise two or two-and-half months before the programme. We only have Sundays for practice. Many churches conduct auditions to select members for the choir but we don’t do that usually,” Reji says, adding that the choir also conducts house visits during the season spreading the Christmas vibe. “Carol singing competitions are also often held. This year, we are taking part in ecumenical carol singing competition organised by Malankara Catholic Association on December 13,” he adds.
Most of choirs choose traditional as well as popular songs. “Harmony singing is the hallmark of our choir. There are members of the choir who have been singing for more than three decades,” says Premchand, a choirmaster since 1995, who will conduct ‘Going to Bethlehem’ while fellow choirmaster Amarnath I Paul will conduct a Malayalam carol.
The choir, which is as old as the church, which was consecrated in 1906, has around 80 members singing for worship services in English, Malayalam and Tamil. “A general choir consisting of around 30 to 40 members usually represents our church at events outside the church. The main choir often performs on Christmas eve at the church, with our children’s choir and junior choir. We are also invited to sing for patients; last year we performed for cancer patients at Lourdes Matha Cancer Care Centre.”
The choir of YMCA Trivandrum on stage
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
At YMCA’s event, each choir comprising 30-35 members, usually sings one song each in Malayalam and English. The YMCA also has a choir, which performs first. The opening and closing carols this year are ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ and ‘Silent Night’ respectively.
Other than ecumenical events, specific denominations organise carol programmes. One such long-running event is God’s Own Night by Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam diocese, Trivandrum centre, which features select singers from the choirs of 10 Mar Thoma churches in Thiruvananthapuram. “Over 100 singers take the stage and render a few carols, conducted by different choirmasters. The practice starts by September and the churches take turns to hold rehearsals every week.
Choir at God’s Own Night Christmas event organised by Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam diocese, Trivandrum centre in Thiruvananthapuram last year. This year’s event is on December 14
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Besides traditional carols such as ‘O Come, Holy Faith’ and ‘Silent Night’, we present new compositions also. This year, we have a Malayalam song composed by Dr Abraham Joshua of St Paul’s Mar Thoma Church which is written by his wife, Dr Geetha Abraham. Junior and youth choirs of various churches and the one of Department of Sacred Music and Communications will also perform,” says P Eapen Thomas, choirmaster of Ebenezer Mar Thoma Church, Peroorkada, since 2002, who is one of the conductors at God’s Own Night.
At YMCA’s event he is conducting the song, ‘Voice of wilderness’ by Pepper Choplin, sung by his church’s choir. “We sometimes prepare the same songs for YMCA’s event and for the carol service at our church on Christmas eve,” he adds.
Dressing up
Besides putting their best in terms of song presentation, much thought is given to looking their best as well, as men and women turn up in attire of the same shade. “We finalised the colour of our saris over a month ago. Senior women members take care of it. This time it is a white sari with red embroidery work,” says Diana Mathew, member of St Peter’s Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Simhasana Cathedral choir. Eapen adds that his choir usually changes the costume every two years. “This year, while men will turn up in jubba in golden shade and black trousers, women are wearing saris in the same shade,” he says.
YMCA’s Christmas event is on December 7 at Dr Joseph Mar Thoma Auditorium, St Thomas School, Mukkolakkal, 5pm. God’s Own Night is at the same venue on December 14, 5pm. UCM’s celebrations is at PE George Memorial Salvation Army Church, Kowdiar, on December 14, 5pm.
Published – December 04, 2025 04:24 pm IST