James McCracken sings "Birthday of a King."

So why share a You Tube video of James McCracken, the great opera tenor, singing a Christmas carol in mid-August - something I stumbled across on the internet.

Why? Well, this recording marks my very first moment as a professional musician.

Recorded at the Columbia Masterworks Studios, this was the first time I conducted professional musicians or heard any notes that I penned to paper (yes, there was a time we still all used ink and paper) played by a ...