2008 Press Archives

A Princeton Christmas

Screachen.com

By Mary Allan


Beautiful and ethereal or joyful noise, A Princeton Christmas CD delivers. Vocal groups from Princeton New Jersey have come together for the second time to make music for the children of Africa. Proceeds from sales of this 18-track, mostly acappella album— will go to the United Nations' World Food Program.

The album has quite a collection of Christmas songs. Some are familiar to us all, such as the beautifully harmonic Silver Bells by Cloud Nine from The Princeton High School. There is also a lively version of What Child is This by The Princeton Theological Seminary Chapel Choir.

The album opens with a heavenly version of Hodie Christus Natus Est, a traditional Latin Christmas composed by Benjamin Britten. There are songs from all over the world. There is a lilting Welsh Lullaby from The Princeton University Chapel Choir. A melodic acapella chant, Gabriel’s Message is a Basque carol. There are many different genres. Children Where I send Thee is a traditional African-American spiritual song, this is an energetic offering from The Princeton Day School Madrigal Singers.

One of the best selections is the very sweet This is Christmastide sung by The Princeton Girlchoir.

According to their website, princetonchristmas.org, WFP school meals programs provide healthy meals to children in some of the world's poorest countries. For many of these children, this is the only meal they receive all day. In 2007, WFP provided meals in school to nearly 20 million children in 70 countries. It only costs $0.25 to provide a meal to a child in school. In some schools, take-home food rations are also distributed for children to bring home to their families. Serving food at school not only targets hunger at its root, it also helps get children into school, providing them with an important key to a better future - an education.

"Last year, the inaugural album raised over $40,000 for WFP and provided more than 160,000 meals to children across Africa," said Tom Meagher, the organizer of A Princeton Christmas and coordinator for the volunteer-based WFP Committee of New York. "We hope to surpass these figures and continue feeding schoolchildren long after the holiday season is over."

If your tastes tend towards traditional American Christmas Music, this may not be for you. However if you embrace music from many different genres and countries, you should purchase this CD.You will also be contributing to a very worthy cause.

For more information, visit Friends of the World Food Program (http:/ www.friendsofwfp.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to building support for the WFP (http://www.wfp.org).

Contact:
Tom Meagher (A Princeton Christmas) / 908-907-3377
Maria Reppas / mreppas@friendsofwfp.org / 202- 530-1694 x 111