A CBC tradition "with heart and soul and voice," the Christmas Sing-In is an annual holiday concert presented by CBC Montreal. The program includes new and familiar music for the season (performed by a choir, organ, brass and percussion) and traditional carols featuring an audience of more than 1,000 singing along at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in Montreal.

What's LOVE got to do with it?

Part of the Sing-In tradition is the accompanying charitable drive, which raises money for a different cause each year. The 2012 Sing-In charity is Leave Out Violence (LOVE), a not-for-profit organization that aims to prevent violence in the lives of young people. LOVE was created by Twinkle Rudberg out of the tragedy of her husband's murder at the hands of a 14-year-old gang member on drugs. Instead of blaming the youth, Rudberg recognized that the teenager who killed her husband had also been a victim of violence, and so she decided to create LOVE with the goal of empowering young people to make better choices in life.

Where charity and LOVE are found

As a musical tribute to Rudberg's LOVE, the charity she founded 20 years ago, the Choir of the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul will perform Maurice Duruflé's famous a cappella setting of the plainsong melody Ubi caritas et amor (Where charity and love are found) at this year's Sing-In. The Latin text characterizes love as a uniting force in the world, and urges us all to love from a pure heart. Duruflé's music is simple and direct, and — given the context — is sure to be a poignant highlight of the program.

The Choir of King's College, Cambridge, performing Duruflé's Ubi caritas (1960) from Quatre motets sur des thèmes Gregoriens. (Video: YouTube)

If you'd like to support the 2012 CBC Sing-In charity drive for LOVE, please make your donation here.

The 33rd annual CBC Christmas Sing-In takes place Sunday, Dec. 9, at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in Montreal, and will be recorded for listening on CBC Music and broadcast across Canada on CBC Radio One (Dec. 25), CBC Radio 2 (Dec. 16 and 25) and Espace musique (Dec. 23), throughout North America on Sirius Satellite Radio (Dec. 25) and by member stations of the European Broadcasting Union (Dec. 16). For more details, please visit cbcmusic.ca/sing-in.

Related:

The CBC Christmas Sing-In

20 years on, Montreal-founded LOVE is still spreading

Joy to the World, a Euroradio holiday music special on CBC Radio 2

Top 10 classical Christmas concerts to check out this season

Playing the Grinch: Josh Rager riffs on Dr. Seuss

Noël du campeur: Quebec’s Christmas in July

posted by Scott Tresham on Dec 04, 2012