This holiday season, Lexington High School’s Madrigal Singers (Mads), a select honors choral ensemble, will be performing holiday carols throughout Lexington to celebrate the upcoming holiday season. As per tradition, Mads will be caroling at Seasons Four, a local store selling outdoor living accessories. 

Mads will perform each weekend, alternating between Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Their repertoire includes classic English carols, such as “Silent Night,” but also newer pieces in other languages like Latin. 

“[Our set] combines the traditional holiday songs that everyone knows and loves with singing different holiday songs from different regions to make it more inclusive,” Mrigank Dhingra, a senior member of Mads, said.

Members of the Lexington community look forward to listening to Mads perform.

“We have such a diverse age group in this town, so by caroling, we can form those connections across different age groups and communities,” Christopher Yoo, a senior member of Mads, said. 

Mads are also often joined by alumni—ranging from college students to older adults—who sing with them at Seasons Four, further building a sense of community within the choral program and the town. 

“It’s just a great time to connect with the community, show a little holiday spirit, and share that joy with other people in town through music. This is also a fun way to bond with the other people in [Mads] because caroling with other people isn’t just for the audience; it’s for people in the group as well,” Dhingra said. 

Members of the Mads put their utmost effort into rehearsing and performing their songs. In order to achieve the results expected of this reputable group, each of its vocalists allocates a significant amount of time to learning and practicing the music. With so much music and choreography to memorize, it sometimes becomes difficult to maintain a balance between academics and performance preparation.

“We have to create a 45 minute long set list, but since it has to be so long, we have quite a bit of trouble learning it in the wake of our Fall Honors Concert as well… Immediately after we finish that concert, we start learning the carols. Learning 45 minutes worth of music is pretty hard to do, even with a month of class time,” Yoo said. 

Despite the challenges, caroling is a crucial part of the Mads experience, and is rewarding for its members, who encourage others to audition for the group. 

“If you have an inkling that you do want to audition or you feel the desire to audition [for Mads], then you should definitely go for it because you never know what’s going to happen, and I think it’s such a great experience,” Dhingra said.

In the meantime, members of the Lexington community can look forward to watching Mads perform at Seasons Four on the weekends from Thanksgiving to Christmas.