Best of New Christmas Music: Carol of the Bells by Magdalene Rolka

It’s not every day you get Mrs. Claus to play a little Christmas diddy on the piano for you. In this fun little video there’s some serious good music in this festive rendition of Carol of the Bells:

That was pretty fun, eh? Mrs. Claus has got some skills, right?

We did a little digging and found out that’s not really Mrs. Claus. It’s Magadelene Rokka — and she’s apparently a woman of many…heads:

Who is she really?

Magdalene Rolka was born in Chicago and started playing piano soon after, at the age of three.

She started performing when she was five years old and played her first full recital at age ten. She spent her childhood immersed in music, performing around Chicago at beautiful performance venues such as Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, The Chicago Cultural Center and at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she played for Mayor Daley.

Magdalene completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at the University of Miami. Upon graduating, Magdalene joined the faculty of the University of Miami Piano Preparatory Program where, in addition to private piano lessons, she taught classes of Group Piano, Music Theory, and Aural Skills for four years. Magdalene received her Master of Arts degree in Music/Music Education from Columbia University Teachers College, where she had the rare privilege to study with and perform for esteemed philosopher, Maxine Greene.

Magdalene currently teaches students ages 4 through 96.

Our hat is off to Magdalene. I HATED taking piano lessons when I was a kid. But clearly, she knows music and she knows how to have fun. What a great Christmas combination. Bravo!