With Christmas less than three months away, many musicians have already started making selections and planning rehearsals. Our guest author and composer for this week, Benjamin Kolodziej, shares some of his favorite tips for preparing Advent and Christmas music.

We know many of you are getting started recruiting musicians and selecting music for this year. To help you with that, we’ve put together a list of pieces you may want to consider for Advent and Christmas. 

I know what you’re thinking. There are already too many favorite Christmas hymns and carols to try to fit into one Christmas Eve and one Christmas Day service. If we’re singing “Joy to the World,” “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” and “Silent Night,” where am I going to fit more? But consider the many other opportunities for using Christmas hymns beyond the service: at school, at home, at Sunday School, in the Christmas program, as part of your personal devotions, while caroling. Give these often-forgotten hymns that tell of Christ’s birth a second look.