Christmas in California: Stanford

Our first stop in California is Memorial Church ( aka Mem Chu, built in 1899) at Stanford University. Two appearances at Stanford are part of our Christmas tradition, and that of many people who come year after year, who this year arrived shivering in the dark and cold ( 45 degree) California night. That's a bit colder than we're used to. ( we know, we're spoiled.)

Memorial Church is a magnificent place for a Christmas concert. These were taped by Minnesota Public Radio and will be hitting the airwaves in the next few days, so perhaps you can join us where you are on your local national public radio station.

Christmas: Goodbye to New York

Back to the Metropolitan Museum. A packed house had braved heavy wind ( street signs were being knocked over on 5th Avenue) and extremely chilly temperatures to join us in the serene warmth of the Medieval Sculpture Court for our last of six concerts.

"Mission Road" -our CD/DVD about the California missions- sold out tonight -perhaps because of all the publicity on the Today Show and WQXR.

Tonight was a night for network newscasters: Martha Teichner and Morley Safer of CBS and Tom Brokaw of NBC were in the audience. Our New York performances also attract lots of friends and relatives and longtime fans.Todd's parents were there, as well as Gabe's parents and aunt and uncle.

Goodbye to the Met until we return on April 16 to perform in the Temple of Dendur. No snow this time ( it's always the perfect ending to a Christmas concert), but it's down to about 20 degrees. Even though New York is the world's greatest Christmas city and it's always hard to leave - we guess we'll be happy to get back to California and the moonlight and palm trees, where 50 degrees seems chilly.

Christmas: Long Island

A new ( to us) hall and a new audience- the Tilles Center at C.W. Post College of Long Island University, which fit in nicely between our performances at the Met Museum in Manhattan. Feels as if snow isn't far away.

There are only three concert halls - as opposed to churches, museums or missions - on the Christmas tour. It's up to us to bring the Christmas atmosphere on to the stage - and figure out how to stage our opening procession.

If it's Christmas it must be the Biebl Ave Maria. Regular Chanticleer Christmas-goers will recognize the formation.

Lots of enthusiastic folks at the record table.

Christmas: Media Day in the Big Apple

A relatively recent tradition is our marathon tv-radio-in-store day in New York. It's a lot of fun, if gruelling. It goes sometehing like this. Assembly in the hotel lobby at 5.30am.

Pre-dawn departure from our West Side hotel in vans sent by the Today show.

Arrival at the Today Show green room where breakfast awaits. We love and appreciate and wouldn't trade our Today Show appearances ( now a tradition for them too, we hope), but for our six or so minutes of air time, we spend more time at NBC than we do at the Met for a double concert!

There were many and varied guests on Today today. Our dressing area was next to the dogs.

First rehearsal at around 6.15am. Rehearsals have to be over before the broadcast begins.

After rehearsal, coffee for some and a chess game for others in the lobby at 30 Rock.

For some reason there were tons of people in the Green Room and we had no idea who they were. And vice versa probably.

Some people we do recognize, however. No passing celebrity gets away without a copy of our Christmas CD 'Let it Snow.' Matt presents one to Stacy London ( of TV's 'What Not to Wear'). Cortez bonds with Brandi who rehearsed and appeared just ahead of us.

Up the stairs for our first appearance at 9.49am.

Al Roker introduced "Christmas Time is Here" and wove in a promotion of our CD 'Mission Road.' We hope that nobody thinks
that Vince Guaraldi's song is on "Mission Road."

Kathy Lee and Hoda introduced our second set. Hoda told Adam that he was extremely cute, according to Adam.

The annual Christmas portrait.

After our last song ( the First Noel ) at l0.57, we send the white tie and tails away for safekeeping before sprinting downtown to WQXR.

WQXR has become another regular stop in New York. We taped a few Christmas songs and an interview about Mission Road which will be played over the next weeks.

After lunch at WQXR we cabbed back uptown for our 2pm appearance at the Apple Store at 59th and 5th - which has to be seen to be believed. Sort of a Louvre for the I-Pod, absolutely jammed with shoppers.

A stage and sound system had been set up, and we got quite a lot of attention!! A 25 minute performance, then back to the hotel for 24 hours off before the next call.

Christmas: New York

Christmas is undeniably a time for traditions and our tradition is to be part of yours. We leave San Francisco for the East Coast the day after Thanksgiving to see familiar faces in Fairfax Virginia and Chicago before taking up residence in New York for a week. It's always a high point of the year to arrive at the magnificent Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue on a crisp winter afternoon.

An army marches on its stomach - we think Napoleon said. These snacks will sustain us from our arrival for rehearsal around 5pm, though our departure at about l0.30pm after two concerts.

No matter how many times we walk into the Medieval Sculpture Court and see the tree, it's awe-inspiring every time, and puts us right in the Christmas spirit.

Almost as soon as we start to rehearse at about 5.30pm, a long line is forming in the lobby.

Off-stage after the first of six concerts here at the Met. We'll be here again tomorrow night and Sunday night.

In the lobby after each show we meet new people and see old friends who come year after year. Here Matt greets Missie Rennie Taylor who made an evening of the concert combined with a dinner for 50 or so of her friends.