Tessanne talks Christmas traditions, new song and VoiceBox
Published:Sunday | December 8, 2024 | 12:10 AMYasmine Peru - Sunday Gleaner Writer
Christmas is Better With You is the title of the just-released Yuletide song from Tessanne Chin, and it is special to her for many reasons, her children being one.
“It is wonderful to see Christmas through their eyes, and this song is a dedication to them because Christmas has gotten so much better because of our daughters,” Tessanne told The Sunday Gleaner.
The original Christmas song is written by Tessanne, and she was beaming with pride as she named her co-writers: “My big nephew Giomar Mitchell and my dear friend Olaf Blackwood”.
“It’s just a really wonderful, vibesy song. I think that there are so many Christmas songs that we hear about snow and snowman and mistletoe and white Christmas that people who live in the Caribbean or in a different kind of climate don’t necessarily experience. But we have our own Christmas vibe, and it is warm, and it is different, and it is festive, and it’s filled with family and good food and dominoes and curry goat and all these wonderful things. And this song is just an ode to that,” she shared. With the countdown to Christmas Day now on, the foodie and mother-of-two has a lot on her plate. She is busy making traditions with her family and also in full vocal-coach mode as she gets her students at VoiceBox Performing Arts ready for their December 15 concert, Our Christmas Wish.
“We are building our traditions as we go. My girls are still relatively young, but they help to decorate the tree, and on Christmas Eve, they get to open one present and come Christmas morning, we have the Milo, a nice big breakfast with pancakes and bacon and eggs and all these wonderful things. They are just getting to the age … well, Zaia, my older [daughter], is just getting to the age where she can sit down through a movie. Aayla don’t have no interest in sitting through no whole movie. But for sure, for now, one of them is decorating the tree together,” she said, laughing joyously as she spoke about her daughters.
Tessanne shared that as a child, her family didn’t celebrate Christmas because it was against their beliefs at the time.
“In a weird way, our Christmas tradition was watching the Sound of Music, which has spilled over into our now Christmas tradition. We didn’t start celebrating Christmas until later on. One thing that always remains true for us is that [the season is] just another wonderful excuse for us to connect with family, which is something that we love to do …. and to remember the reason for the season, which is the birth of Christ,” she added.
VoiceBox, described as “that space in which children aged six to 18 years get to hone their vocal talents”, is a dream come true for the Season 3 ‘Voice’ winner. What has made it even better is that the VoiceBox founder has been able to provide her first scholarship to one of her students, and the goal is to do more projects such as this.
“We are so excited about our second Christmas production. The children have [been] working so hard, and every day, they get even better, which is incredible because they were pretty good to start with. And it’s just going to be a wonderful and magical night for the entire family filled with so many special little things that we have put together, and we hope that it will usher in a wonderful Christmas vibe and good feeling all around,” she said.
However, the songbird, who is ecstatic to be able to assist in elevating and educating children, teens, and young adults using the arts, has a pet peeve.
“We always say that one of our greatest exports in Jamaica is music and the arts on a whole, and it baffles me that there is not some form of training ground or facility for that. It is one of the things that we are known for, one of the things that have put us on the map in so many ways,” Tessanne said, pointing out that the arts is “much more than song and dance”, as exemplified by what takes place at VoiceBox.
“Our children are not just supporting each other in VoiceBox. Outside of VoiceBox, they show up for each other. They have found their tribe. It’s being able to commit yourself to something that is bigger than you, using your arts for the right purpose, and I think you can’t go wrong with that,” Tessanne declared.