Special holiday column: Christmas music

Christmas music seems to be a love-hate kind of a thing. People either love it or hate it, and there doesn't seem to be any in-between.
I'm one of the love-it types. Once Dec. 1 rolls around each year, I'm scrambling for my favorite Christmas music CDs, much to the irritation of my husband. My top three Christmas CDs? Harry Connick Jr., Diana Krall and Aaron Neville. All of these stick with the traditional arrangements of the holiday classics but still manage to give them a special touch. It makes for delightful Christmas listening.
I think my love of Christmas music stems from my junior high choir experience. I was one of the fortunate ones deemed good enough at auditions to be chosen for the choir (although the standards couldn't have been terribly high, because now that I'm an adult, I realize I was no Charlotte Church).
The best thing about junior high choir was the two major productions each year — the Christmas concert and the spring musical. Ms. Couvillion, the choir director, was a fantastic and encouraging teacher who we all admired. When she found out I was taking piano lessons, she bestowed the ultimate responsibility on me by asking me to play the piano accompaniment to one of the songs in the Christmas concert.
I was thrilled — and terrified. I immediately went home and practiced "The First Noel" until my fingers cramped. It was an easy song to play, but I wanted to make sure I didn't screw up on the big day.
When that day arrived, my mind raced with the lyrics to the carols on our program, the advice Ms. Couvillion had given us about not locking our knees on stage and, of course, the timing of my piano debut.
When the moment arrived for "The First Noel," all my practice paid off. Yes, I may have rushed through the song just a little (in my hurry to get that terrifying two minutes behind me), but all in all, it was a success.
To this day, "The First Noel" is always on my top three list of all-time favorite Christmas carols. It's followed closely by "Christmas Time is Here" (from A Charlie Brown Christmas) and "O Holy Night."
The hands-down best version of "O Holy Night," my mom would be quick to point out, is by Aaron Neville. Walk into my parents house at any time during the weeks leading up to Christmas and there's a 99.9 percent chance Mom will have this song, cranked loud enough to be heard throughout the house, on repeat.
One year, Mom's Aaron Neville Christmas CD got "lost" (well, she couldn't find it, but I don't know if it was technically lost. It likely was hijacked by one of my siblings and stashed in a super-secret location, never to be found again).
Could we have Christmas without Aaron's soulful rendition of "O Holy Night" being played around the clock? Not prepared to risk it, good old Dad promptly went out and bought Mom a replacement CD. Whew, crisis avoided.
Despite the slight overkill through the years, Aaron is still one of my standby favorites.