Christmas is the time for hot chocolate, peppermint sticks, cozy fires… and musical collaborations. John Riesen (tenor) and Jonathan Estabrooks (baritone) are coming together for the release of ‘Christmas Medley.’
CCM: Why did you choose this piece – what does it mean to you?
John Riesen: Jonathan (my colleague at Emitha) and I wanted to do something special with all the Christmas promo we’ve been running for fellow singers – and we thought it would be fun to continue our string of duets and do something a bit different. We took some famous old Christmas hymns and made something pretty special. These are songs we’ve known our whole lives, and now we are making them our own.
CCM: What are some of the elements from the original that were important for you to keep and what were some of the new ideas you are most excited about?
John Riesen: The great thing about using public domain Christmas hymns is that the tunes are simple, and timeless. We basically just took them and made them fit our voices and our sounds.
CCM: Were there any challenging moments in this medley?
John Riesen: The hardest part of choosing which songs to do. There are SO many incredible Christmas songs. Thankfully Jonathan and I both have released several Christmas tunes in the past which helped to narrow it down.