Christmas Concerts Past

Music has played a major role with Janz Team/TeachBeyond from the very beginning. Each evangelistic event always included a choir and the singing of the Janz Quartet before Leo Janz (my uncle) brought the message. My dad Adolph Janz, sang second tenor in the quartet. Back in the mid-1950s in German-speaking Europe, it was unusual to include so much music at such events.  Through the years, different singers and musicians joined the Team, including the Janz Team Ambassadors and Janz Team Singers. Their music was always part of evangelistic events. 

In December 1982 the first Advent concert was held. Del Huff, head of the music department at that time, initiated this idea, and it was a great success right from the start! That first concert was held in the Schlossberghalle in the suburbs of Lörrach, Germany with a large local inter-church choir, the Janz Team musicians, plus an enthusiastic local youth choir. The hall was filled to overflowing, and sadly many people had to be turned away. The following years we performed the concerts up to 3 times on the weekends to accommodate the crowds. The yearly Christmas concerts became a tradition that lasted for many years. Even today people who attended those concerts mention to us how they miss them.   

Then the suggestion was made, why not take the concerts on the road?  As of 1987 Advent concert tours took place in up to 15 cities in Germany and Switzerland each year. One special tour included local choirs in each place that joined the 15 Janz Team musicians and singers in presenting the good news of Christmas. That meant we traveled to each place in advance for choir rehearsals. In one city 11 choirs joined us! 

To this day the Advent concert tours continue to exist in the person of Danny Plett, who with his team is on the road presently here in Germany with 12 concerts.