Once this week’s Thanksgiving holiday is past, those who conduct choirs in schools go just a little bit crazy with the onslaught of December concerts. Whether the performances be in a concert hall, a banquet room, the local shopping mall, or at the city tree lighting, the sounds of choirs will be everywhere. Those […]
Church Choir
Stick Time: What the Church Choir Can Do
For many choral conductors, this time of year heralds both the beginning of the academic year and the new church choir season. It is a special privilege to share our art with the delightful folks who offer their time and talent to sing in a church choir. While it may be true in some […]
“Five from the Folder: Church Choir” by Terre Johnson
FIVE FROM THE FOLDER: CHURCH CHOIR by Terre Johnson 1. "He, Watching Over Israel." Felix Mendelssohn, G. Schirmer 50293760 The perfectly useful chorus from an extended work. Singable counterpoint and beautiful expressive elements. 2. "There Is a Balm in Gilead." William L. Dawson, Neil A. Kjos T105 Deeply moving, and valuable for working […]
Strategies for Small Church Choirs
(An excerpt from the interest session, “Where Ten or Twelve are Gathered: Strategies for Small Church Choirs,” by Matthew Caine. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.) I have one final resource to mention in regard to repertoire, one that is readily available, free to use, but, I imagine is seldom accessed in […]
Stick Time: Capabilities of a Church Choir
A week from now, Christian churches of all stripes will be filled to capacity with parishioners attending services in celebration of Christmas. It is not hyperbolic to state that more people will hear live choral music and raise their own voices in song early next week than at any other single time of the year, […]
Stick Time: “Just” a Church Choir
During a recent conversation, a new acquaintance introduced himself as being “Just a church choir director.” Excuse me? Just a church choir director . . . !? Creating satisfying choral art with a college choir that meets five days a week is comparatively luxurious next to the herculean task of producing beautiful sounds […]