Recharge: A Summer Series

Perhaps you’re done with the school year/program year. Congrats for making it through a challenging year! Or perhaps you have a few more weeks to go. You got this!

It’s been a tough year for all of us. Perhaps it’s included ever-shifting guidelines related to the pandemic. Or singers came down with COVID and had to quarantine, which impacted a performance. Perhaps you even had to quarantine during a very inconvenient time. Maybe various tragedies such as shootings in Buffalo, NY, Uvalde, TX, and others have shaken us to the core. Perhaps the year has included being in an emotional jumble at times. That’s OK. Recently I was reminded of part of Over the Rainbow that was not in the movie of The Wizard of Oz. It talks about feeling like everything is a hopeless jumble.

When all the world is a hopeless jumble

And the raindrops tumble all around,

Heaven opens a magic lane.

When all the clouds darken up the skyway

There’s a rainbow highway to be found,

Leading from your window pane

To a place behind the sun, Just a step beyond the rain.

To hear Over the Rainbow with the lyrics, Ella Fitzgerald recorded a stunning rendition:

I included Over the Rainbow in a recent Dessert Theater event at my church. It was held in the Fellowship Hall and a combination of Children, Youth, and Adults performed solos and ensemble numbers. Between sets, audience members had plenty of time for dessert and fellowship. There was also a sing along for a few songs for audience members and performers. One of the songs was Over the Rainbow. I sang the introduction and everyone else started at “Somewhere over the rainbow…”. While the whole event was a great success, the moment when everyone started singing was truly memorable. It was a testament to the power of singing with other people.

While a number of ensembles at the church where I serve will be taking a break for the summer, I will have opportunities for adults to join in for a short-term commitment in July for a summer choir. One of the anthems I will most likely use is You Are Holy arr. John Helgen. It’s mostly two-part, with an SAB section and a short SATB coda. Accompaniment includes piano, percussion, and optional violin.

https://www.augsburgfortress.org/store/product/9780800676452/You-Are-Holy

Below is a very creative arrangement of the same hymn tune, sung by singers from First-Plymouth Church in Lincoln, Nebraska.

In addition, while I’m attending the Worship and Music Conference at Montreat and the Conference on Theology, Worship, and the Arts at St. Olaf College, I’ll be on the lookout for new ideas for anthems for Children’s, Youth, and Adult Choirs.

This summer, I’ll write about recharging. That will look different for all of us. Perhaps you might need some time away from thinking about your professional life. Perhaps you might be energized for a conference or planning repertoire for next year. I will take time for both. Regardless of how you’ll recharge this summer, I thought I would share a link to a YouTube video called Music to Calm the Mind and Stop Thinking.

I’ve used that video many times to help relax and center myself.

What anthems have you used that have been successful with adults for a summer choir? What conferences are you attending this summer? Comment below!