On this Christmas Eve, my deep past is reaching out and grabbing me.

I'll try to make this short—with some references. When I was young, I sang for the Choir School of St. Thomas Church:

http://www.choirschool.org/

(yes, I was one of those cute choir boys—and we hated being called cute, except when it was young ladies of the same age who thought so)

St. Thomas Church itself is on Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan:

http://www.saintthomaschurch.org/

It is a Gothic church from central casting. In most cities in the world, it would be the cathedral, but this is New York. The magnificent reredos is notable for many things, among them for having George Washington as one of the (many) statues:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/2/1113/1009010257_9666d2c1ea_b.jpg

I sang for St. Thomas from 1979 to 1982, reaching my musical peak at age thirteen (sigh). The style of singing at St. Thomas is in the "English tradition," and the most famous practitioner of that tradition is Kings College Cambridge. The BBC has broadcasted their Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve since 1928:

http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/events/cha ... ervices/nine-lessons.html

When I was finishing up at St. Thomas, big news in boy choir circles was that Kings College was getting a new director of music, Stephen Cleobury. Thirty-six years later, this is his last Lessons and Carols—his replacement (full circle) will be the current director of music at my old Choir School in New York, Daniel Hyde.

So, I'm sitting in our audio/video room, listening to the (slightly delayed) stream of Kings College and reflecting more than a little …