Creating carol for the troops inspires student, prof at Ky. Baptist school

The Chamber Choir at Campbellsville University sings the debut performance of "What is Christmas?" (Campbellsville U.)

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — Thousands of American soldiers will be apart from their families this Christmas, but Campbellsville University graduate student Matt Hodge has written a Christmas carol for them in hopes of providing a way for the troops and their families to feel closer together during the holiday season.

“What is Christmas?” came out of a brainstorming session between Hodge and Frieda Gebert, associate professor of music at the Kentucky Baptist school.

Gebert said she remembered her parents telling her about being apart at Christmas during World War II while her father was away fighting. They would both listen to “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” which they called “their song,” to think of each other while they were apart.

“When I heard President Obama say that 30,000 more troops would be heading for Afghanistan, my heart went out to their families,” Gebert said. “When he said that many of those would be leaving home before Christmas, I thought of my parents and the years they spent apart…. I wanted to find a way for those back home to say, ‘Christmas will be here when you get back.’”

She then called Hodge and asked what he could do to help. “He came through in a big way!” she said.

Hodge’s carol recently debuted during the school’s annual holiday concert. It was performed by the Campellsville Chamber Choir. Gebert said the enthusiastic standing ovation by the audience convinced them that the carol conveyed the message they had hoped.

Hodge said after the concert he and Gebert were “flooded with people wanting to share their personal stories of how the song touched them.”

“Dr. Gebert and I are so happy that we could bring a song to the public that could touch people in their own personal experiences,” he said.

The choir recorded the carol shortly thereafter at Campbellsville trustee Buzz Cason’s music studio in Nashville, Tenn, and a music video of it is available on YouTube. The Chamber Choir also hopes to make trips to Fort Campbell, Ky., and Fort Knox, Ky. — both near Campbellsville’s campus — to perform the carol.

“We are also exploring ways to get the carol out to the troops through the internet,” Hodge said.

CDs will be available to purchase for sending overseas to troops in time for Christmas. For more information, contact Gebert at [email protected].

-30-

Ashley Zsedenyi is a staff writer in Campbellsville University’s Office of University Communications.