This year's Christmas with Chor Leoni concerts at St. Andrew’s-Wesley Church on Friday, Sunday, and Monday (December 14, 16, and 17), plus one at West Vancouver United Church on Saturday (December 15), feature a rare personal connection to Joseph Mohr, author of the classic seasonal piece that ends the program, “Silent Night”. On the song’s 200th anniversary, we ask the choir’s baritone Greg Mohr about his claim to fame.

Q. What is your family connection to Joseph Mohr, the writer of “Silent Night”, and how did your relatives find out about it?

A. I remember hearing the story from the time I was a small child. But we always really wondered if it could be true that we were related. Finally, one of my dad’s cousins spent time in Germany and Austria and researched the family tree. He confirmed that Joseph Mohr is my great, great, great, great, great, great uncle (six greats!).

Q. How does it feel when you perform it, given your special lineage, and what do you love about the piece?

A. I become quite emotional whenever we sing “Silent Night” at Christmas Eve worship services at church or with Chor Leoni in concert. I often need to stop singing for a few moments and I just stand there listening to the beauty of this music and the simple, poetic words that speak about peace and hope and God’s love for the world. There is something about the words that distills our hopes and dreams, our fears and longings, into such simple words and phrases. It is the vision of a world no longer at war, of people living in a time of calm following the depths of a sea of despair following the Napoleonic Wars. Yet peace is not just the cessation of war. It is a prayer for peace in the midst of struggle, peace in the heart and soul and mind of each person.

Q. How will it be performed by Chor Leoni on “Silent Night”’s 200th anniversary year?

A. Christmas with Chor Leoni will close with “Silent Night” as an audience sing-along. It will be sung by candlelight and accompanied by guitar, just as the original performance was. The hope is to send everyone out humming it!