Winter is a busy season for La Jolla Country Day’s Madrigals. They have many performances at Country Day and in La Jolla. In early December, they performed at La Valencia in La Jolla, and they also performed for Grandparents’ Day on November 21st. On December 16th, they sang at an all-school choir concert at the Conrad in La Jolla. 

It’s a considerable amount of work, but choir director Ms. Caroline Becker has it under control. The key to handling this season, according to Ms. Becker, is to remain “very organized. I make sure that I have schedules out to parents and students, and myself…[by] the beginning of November, if not earlier.” Organization is very important in keeping herself and her students on track. Ms. Becker utilizes tools such as Google Calendar to send out invites to students and parents about rehearsals, performances, and any other music-related meetings. Not only does Ms. Becker need to coordinate with choir singers, she also needs to coordinate with orchestra and band musicians. During the all-school choir concert on December 16th, a few band and orchestra members played as instrumentalists alongside the choir. In order for all the singers and instrumentalists to perform together, rehearsals are needed. But this can be a challenge when not all of the musicians have the same class time. However, through organization and flexibility, the challenge of the winter season is no longer a problem. 

Despite the stress of the season, it’s worth it. “I love watching the kids from their first performance to the last one, how fun it is for them. They always grow with their performances,” says Ms. Becker. An important part of performing is the community, and Ms. Becker shares that she enjoys watching “the joy that we bring to people when we perform.” Not only is this season a lot for Ms. Becker, it’s also a lot of work for the students involved in the choir. Students are always very busy, but Ms. Becker recognizes “that they are doing all of these performances on top of everything else that they’re doing, and it’s at the end of the semester, and stress is high.” But she also knows that “the music part of it really gives them joy, and it helps them get through some of that stress.”