Diversity at Christmas

I recently got an email from a parent complaining about the lack of diversity in my elementary Christmas program.  My students sang several well-known holiday songs, and I made sure I added a Hanukkah song in the list.  However, this parent, who is Jewish, didn't think adding a single Hanukkah song was enough diversity.  His suggestion was that I find songs that represent several holidays around the world and use the program as a learning experience for both the students and the audience.

This is an issue that many music teachers face.  Our world is getting more and more diverse all the time, but our music programs often have the same type of music in them that they have had for years and years.  Granted, we purchase new music each year, but it generally centers around the same theme -- Christmas and Santa Claus.  There are a few "pre-packaged" programs that feature different types of music, but very few.  We want to continue with our holiday programs, but we also want to keep our parents (and administrators) happy.  What are we to do?

If you go to Wikipedia and look up winter holidays, you will be given an extensive list of holidays that occur in the winter months.  Besides Christmas, three of the most well-known ones are Las Posadas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah.  Hanukkah music can be found in abundance, and Kwanzaa music is also starting to become easier to find.  Finding Las Posadas music that young children can sing is difficult.

Last year my older students did a program that included music that dealt with all of the above listed holidays.  It was a very well written program, and the students loved it.  However, it was far too difficult for my younger students.  I couldn't find a similar program for my younger students, so I ended up having them perform a short musical that centered around Christmas and Santa Claus.

As our world becomes more diverse, I think that composers who write for young children will begin to incorporate a wider variety of diverse music.  I was looking at the website of a well-known music company where many music teachers purchase their music.  There were a few holiday musicals that dealt with Christmas around the world, but the majority of them were for older elementary students. It is my hope that, in the future, more of them will be written for younger children.

The father who complained about my program has a 2nd grader and a kindergartener.  My programs are usually divided as K-2 and 3-5, so his daughters were both in the younger group this year.  Next year they will be in both.  Should my choice of music be influenced by the complaints of one parent? In my case, I think it depends on who the parent is.  Oh, by the way, this father's email was also sent to my administrator.  She contacted me last week and wants to meet with me to discuss my winter concerts.  I have a feeling that next year's concerts will include a wider variety of music.