I always had this fantasy about becoming an official tour guide in the Village. But I never got beyond taking friends on informal tours of Westbeth Artists Housing (my building) and leading them through the quaint cobblestone streets of the West Village. Instead, I’m an armchair guide who hangs out in the active Facebook group “New York City Travel Tips, Tours by Foot.”

Run by professionals, this group has more than 100,000 followers. I like supplying answers and it’s fascinating to see what appeals to nonresidents. I quickly learned their New York is very different than mine. Never is that more obvious than when people plan a holiday trip.

Tourists want to experience Christmas in the city because it’s so “magical.” If I read the word “magical” one more time in this group, I will scream. (editors note: I feel the same way about “beloved” and “iconic.”)

They all want to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. I have been there exactly once during my 50 years living in Manhattan because I had company who insisted upon this ritual. You couldn’t pay me to go back to that mob scene.

Over the years I’ve created my own holiday rituals in the West Village, a far cry from my Catholic childhood in New Jersey and singing in the girls’ choir at Midnight Mass. I still love singing and my favorite annual holiday event is caroling with the Bliss Singers in the lobby of Westbeth Artists Housing.

I’ve been a member of the Bliss Singers (a community chorus) since it started in 2017. Led by Westbeth resident/jazz singer/music educator Eve Zanni and jazz pianist/composer Issac Raz, we prep for this annual event way in advance. It seems we just get back from summer break and we are pulling up the holiday song lists.

“It’s tricky to lead a group of people at different levels,” said Zanni, “and come up with songs that are accessible. The holiday singing is extra tricky because we have an interfaith group and even a few atheists.”

Zanni estimates the repertoire of this annual event is half traditional carols and the rest is popular holiday songs and a few jazz or pop standards. Besides traditional carols like “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World” and secular songs like “Frosty the Snowman” and “Jingle Bells”, (with verses in Spanish), the Bliss Singers’ holiday repertoire includes “Ocho Kandelikas”, a Hanukkah song in Ladino with a catchy beat. We also toss in “Imagine” and “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles as well as “Guantanamera” and “Dona Nobis Pacem” (done in rounds).

“There is something for everyone,” said Zanni. “Some people are uncomfortable with the body of carols for different reasons. Maybe they are Jewish or maybe they have a negative family history around Christmas. I think we address that by including a diversity of songs.”

Everyone in Westbeth and their guests are welcome to make a joyful noise with their neighbors. The event draws an age range from bouncy kids to elders in wheelchairs. Even the staff joins in. The Bliss Singers’ hospitality crew sets up refreshments—hot apple cider and cookies—in the mail room off the main lobby.

The day of the event, chorus members meet in the community room for a warm-up. We drop off our bulky winter coats, then walk across the courtyard laughing and ringing our jingle bells. As we filter into the lobby, we find our places with the altos/sopranos/basses/tenors.

Issac Raz plays an electronic keyboard; he’s joined by Mark Nelms on standup bass. Donning her Santa hat, Eve Zanni grabs her guitar and leads us in style.

We Bliss Singers are soon joined by Westbeth residents popping down from their apartments or coming back from shopping. I always love when people walk into the lobby, see us singing, and their faces light up with a smile. The staff emerges from the office and the security guards behind their desk join in too. This is the day for the chorus members to shine.

West Villager Michele Herman noted how much the group means to her. “I nervously approached the Bliss Singers class around eight years ago, and now I can’t imagine my life without it,” said Herman, writer/writing teacher. (Herman also writes for this paper). “Not only have I overcome a lifelong phobia about singing in public, I’ve strengthened my vocal cords through Eve’s excellent warm-ups, found confidence and joy in singing alongside others with Isaac’s glorious piano accompaniments, and made a whole community of friends. Caroling in the Westbeth lobby is an annual high point: we all get dolled up in our holiday best and sing our hearts out.”

“This is event is unifying,” said Zanni. “It’s a ritual of celebrating togetherness.” “My goal is to create new memories for people around the holidays and to help people celebrate the vital community that we now share.”

Some years there are surprises, like when a man no one knew emerged from the elevator with his violin and played along on every tune. (Turns out he was a musician visiting a resident.)

I’ve had my own personal surprises related to musical memories. Since my family made a big production out of Christmas, the holiday carries an emotional wallop with lots of nostalgia. When I was singing “The First Noel”, I flashed back to walking with my school choir into the dark sanctuary on Christmas Eve, our candles lit, the church organ soaring. This was our opening hymn.

When our pianist, Issac Raz, hits the tinkling notes of “Silver Bells,” I’m transported back to my childhood and can picture my sister playing that cheery refrain on the piano in our living room. I can hear my mother calling to her from the kitchen, “Play ‘Silver Bells.’”

One year, we were practicing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in the community room and we reached the line, “Someday soon we all will be together, if the fates allow.” I started crying as I thought of my faithful friend, Sue, who was dear to me but wouldn’t be near once more. She had died that past summer. It felt cathartic, like an unexpected moment in a therapy session.

Zanni is a great believer in the healing power of song. That’s what motivated her to start the Bliss Singers. “The greatest therapy and integration of your humanity can take place through singing and singing with others,” she said. “It gives you confidence and the vibrations tune our internal organs.”

I don’t understand the science but I love this caroling event and I always feel uplifted after our weekly class. The Bliss Singers meet weekly on Friday afternoons from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in the Westbeth Community Room at 155 Bank St.

The Bliss Singers is funded by the Westbeth Artists Residents Council through an ongoing grant from the City Council office. (Thank you, Erik Bottcher.) The workshop is free and open to the public. No experience necessary.