This year's christmas season summarized

It started calmly with a Christmas seminar and a Christmas tree lighting with the school band.

Well, no... it started when I was asked to play at a Christmas tree lighting in the village at a friend's house, and was enticed with deer stew for dinner as a reward. That's something you can't say no to. This was followed by the school band's Christmas tree lighting ceremony, a candlelight service and another Christmassy performance with the other school band, and I tried my hand at multitasking by conducting, playing the cornet and handing out clothespins to musicians to hold the sheet music in the wind and rain.

Then there was another Christmas concert with school band 1, many gigs with school band 2 and Christmas parties galore. There were school services with the school band, even more Christmas celebrations, and at the time of writing it will soon be time to play the second Christmas concert with Stangaland Brass in Kopervik church. Then there will be services in Rossabø Church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, before the carols are given a rest until October 2025.

And while I'm waiting to get ready for tonight's Christmas concert, it's time to reflect on what I've learned this season:

First of all, I'm really pleased that both school bands got to show off to their schools. It's so important to be present at school events and make sure students know that the school band is actually an option! Everyone's heard of football, but not everyone knows that band is an extracurricular activity that you can do for the rest of your life.

I'm also pleased that I managed to involve all the musicians, from the youngest to the oldest, in almost all the concerts and gigs the school bands had this Advent season. It required some adaptation of the repertoire, and not everything went smoothly, but all in all it meant that all the musicians got to show off and experience mastery at their level. And that's actually the most important thing about school bands in my opinion. School bands are an arena where children and young people meet, learn, master and play together across age and gender. The younger musicians look up to and learn from the older musicians, and the older musicians learn to lead. School bands are so much more than music. It's a whole little community in miniature, and that's worth taking care of.

The third thing I learned (at a concert!) was that it's a good idea to double-check that the musicians have the right version of the music before you start conducting. There was a tense verse of the hymn Deilig er jorden with both Bb major and E-flat major in parallel before we saved ourselves for verse no. 2, an experience richer. Fortunately, a good mood, Santa hats and charm go a long way in December!