Mary’s Boy Child • SATB Mixed Choir & Piano • Christmas • Jester Hairston, arr. M. Ryan Taylor
Jester Hairston’s beloved Christmas spiritual “Mary’s Boy Child” receives a fresh, energetic setting for SATB mixed choir and piano by M. Ryan Taylor. With its infectious Caribbean rhythmic character, memorable melody, and joyful celebration of Christ’s birth, this arrangement brings the warmth and vitality of the spiritual into the modern concert choir.
The arrangement opens with a clear presentation of the familiar melody before building into increasingly full choral textures. The piano accompaniment provides a strong rhythmic foundation while the voices move between unison and harmonized passages, allowing the character of the original song to remain front and center. The result is a setting that is both immediately recognizable and satisfying to perform.
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At approximately two minutes, Mary’s Boy Child is an excellent choice for a Christmas concert, holiday program, or encore—especially when a choir needs something joyful, rhythmic, and accessible to balance more contemplative seasonal repertoire.
Jester Hairston was one of the most influential arrangers and champions of African American spirituals and choral music in the twentieth century. His original composition Mary’s Boy Child has become a Christmas favorite, and this new arrangement seeks to preserve its distinctive character while giving mixed choirs a fresh concert setting. If you’d like to learn more about the remarkable life of Hairston, please see this fascinating documentary that was shared with me by a high school choir friend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3Qhoojp5Bw
Instrumentation: SATB Mixed Choir with Piano Accompaniment
Difficulty: Moderate
Duration: Approximately 2:10
Language: English
Genre: Christmas / Spiritual
Composer: Jester Hairston
Arranger: M. Ryan Taylor
Copyright: © 2025 NILS-GEORGS MUSIKFÖRLAGS AB
Share Your Performance
I would love to hear your choir perform this piece! Please consider sending me a recording, photos, a copy of your program, or a link to your performance at ryan@choirworks.com.
With your permission, I may share selected recordings, photos, or performance information through Choirworks’ website and social media to help introduce your ensemble to other singers and conductors—and to help other choirs discover this piece. Thank you for giving this work a life beyond the page!