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Austen Wilson

Creating Transformative Experiences: Recharging

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From my experience, Thanksgiving falls at just the right time of year. There is something magical about eating good food with friends and family, followed by a day of total rest and relaxation right before December. At least that’s been my tradition. This year, that rhythm has been restored for me. I grew up in Princeton, NJ, where my parents live. Typically, I would visit for at least a few days, if not a full week. Unfortunately, last year I was not able to visit, as I did not feel comfortable flying, vaccines were not available, and the drive would have been too long from Jacksonville, FL. For those in the US, I hope that you are able to spend Thanksgiving with friends and family and get much needed breathing space before the busyness of the Advent and Christmas seasons.

I was thinking about home and The Road Home by Stephen Paulus came to mind. I’ve had the good fortune of singing the piece at least once and there is something mesmerizing about the combination of the vocal lines and the text.

While I have thought about going home from a literal standpoint, I’ve also thought about the metaphors in the text. During COVID, I’ve often felt far from a familiar path. At times, it’s felt as if I’ve lost the road and the path forward. Perhaps you can relate. Thankfully, I’m slowly figuring out what it means to forge a new path forward. I am grateful for this brief pause before the plunge of the Advent and Christmas seasons. I decided to take a few additional vacation days so this is a full week of recharging for me.

Since I last wrote about the Advent/Christmas concert at my church, I have clarified the purpose and have finalized the musical portion of the program. Entitled Journey Through Darkness and Light, my hope is that the audience will be able to pause, rest, and reflect on their faith through music, art, and readings of the Advent/Christmas seasons. In a previous post, I shared a few of the selections in the concert. I thought I would share the complete program in this post. Audience and choirs will be masked, except for Chancel Ringers and Singers during their anthems.

The King Shall Come/arr. Cathy Moklebust/Chancel Ringers

Spoken Reflection

Zion Hört die Wächter singen from BWV 140/J.S. Bach

Spoken Reflection

Rejoice! Rejoice!/arr. Cathy Moklebust/Chancel Ringers

Spoken Reflection

Lo, How a Rose/arr. Cathy Moklebust/Chancel Ringers with strings and organ

Reading with audience that interweaves Genesis 1 and John 1

O Emmanuel/Karen Marrolli/Chancel Choir

Come, Jesus, Come/Alfred Fedak/Chancel Choir

The King Shall Come/Hymn with choirs, strings, organ, and audience

Emmanuel/Peter Johns/Children’s and Youth Choirs

Light of Hope/Mark Patterson/Children’s Choir

Unto Us/Mark Patterson/Children’s Choir

Angels We Have Heard on High/Hymn with choirs, strings, organ, and audience

Jesus What A Wonderful Child/arr. Rollo Dilworth/Youth Choir

O Holy Night/arr. Jennifer Adams/Youth Choir

O Little Town of Bethlehem/Hymn with choirs, strings, organ, and audience

Night of Silence/arr. John Ferguson/Chancel Choir

Walk in the Light/arr. Andre Thomas/Chancel Choir

Spoken Blessing

O Come, All Ye Faithful/arr. David Willcocks/Hymn with choirs, strings, organ, and audience

With regards to the spoken reflections, I am choosing from Crossings: Meditations for Worship and From Glory Into Glory: Reflections for Worship, both by Susan Palo Cherwien and published by Morningstar. The readings in both collections have such imaginative and creative language and I have used those collections for other programs in the past. After my time off this week, I will finalize which readings I’ll include from a short-list that I have. At the end of each reflection, the audience will be asked a question to ponder during the subsequent musical selection.

Contingent on obtaining the proper copyright, I will be using artwork from A Sanctified Art (https://sanctifiedart.org/) and He Qi (https://www.heqiart.com/). The art will be projected on a screen during the handbell selections. During vocal selections, the texts and translations will be projected on a screen. Long-term, I hope this concert will be a first step of combining multiple artistic elements in performances. COVID has emphasized the importance of live concerts, while also giving the space to start to re-imagine what performances could look like going forward.

A lesson I keep re-learning is the importance of filling up my cup so that I am at my optimum for my choirs. May your cup be filled and your spirit recharged this week.

Creating Transformative Experiences: Staying in the Moment

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As I’m writing this post, I’ve had some minor symptoms after getting the Pfizer COVID booster shot. When I made the appointment to get the booster the afternoon of November 7, I was hopeful, perhaps naively so, that I would escape without any symptoms. However, as an insurance policy, I made sure that the following day would be clear of any scheduled meetings. That was a very smart idea, as I started the day feeling extremely tired. Since I got home, I’ve developed some minor chills and am under a few blankets. I’m listening to a playlist of piano music by Ola Gjeilo and have Christmas lights now. As with the second shot in April, I am hoping these symptoms will break in the middle of the night.

I decided to listen to my body and other than a few hours at work, I’ve rested as much as I could. Last week was one of those extremely busy weeks due to workload, especially last-minute preparations for All Saints Sunday and a Saturday morning rehearsal for the upcoming Advent/Christmas concert. Even before the booster shot, I felt the previous week catching up with me. Over the years, I’ve learned to listen to my body more. That inner listening has been a challenge. It constantly feels as if there’s always more to get done. Sometimes work as a choral conductor can get so busy that I lose sense of myself. As a result, I’m on the path of finding what will bring me back to the present moment. The more I do that, the healthier I am and the more expressive my choirs can be.

Recently, this past Sunday, I experienced one of the most memorable worship services I’ve helped lead. As in many churches, the first Sunday in November is All Saints Sunday, where we remember loved ones who have gone before us and give thanks for saints still in our lives. I’ve been a part of many All Saints Sunday services in the past, but this one had a few creative elements that made it extra-special.

Ahead of time, we collected a list of names of church members who had died in the past year. As part of the service, names were read in groups of 3-4, with a bell rung after each grouping. We used the first four bells of the tune SINE NOMINE, the tune name associated with For All the Saints. Each bell was in a different corner of the Sanctuary. We also allowed people time to speak out loud any other names that came to mind. I had no idea how many people were going to speak. It felt like a holy moment because so many people spoke up. After there were a few moments of silence, each of four bells rang one after the other.

We also asked for people to submit pictures of loved ones who had passed away. We posted those pictures who they would surround the congregation, even hanging some pictures by a clothespin to a rope attached to the corners of the Sanctuary. Those pictures were included in a slideshow that played during the Chancel Choir anthem.

Another change was when the Pastors led Communion. Instead of the Chancel, we placed a makeshift altar in the middle of the Sanctuary. It was very powerful to have the congregation facing each other during the Communion liturgy. A church member watching online was also moved by this change and loved seeing more of the congregation, rather than just the back of people’s heads.

During the whole service, I felt like I was able to stay in the moment. That was especially crucial for at least two specific moments. During the Offertory, the Chancel Choir typically sings an anthem. Usually, one of the pastors says a brief prayer before the Offertory. However, this time, I didn’t see either pastor get up to pray before the Offertory. After waiting a few seconds, I started the anthem. After the service, I was talking with the Senior Pastor about the service and he said that felt right in the moment. Luckily I was aware and centered enough to know what to do without verbal communication.

Once the Chancel Choir started singing the anthem, an arrangement of Shall We Gather At the River, I felt like I almost had an out of body experience. The singing was so emotionally engaged that it really moved me from a deep place. After the service, I was talking with choir members also had a similar experience with the anthem.

I’m sure there were other moments that were inspiring, but those were moments that will stay with me for a long time. I hope that in the next choir rehearsals I lead, I can stay fully in the moment and also have awareness enough to help my singers and ringers stay in the moment.

Creating Transformational Experiences: Repertoire

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I’m in the process of finalizing the program for the Advent/Christmas Concert at my church. While it’s not 100% confirmed, the working title of the concert is Journey Through Darkness and Light. The ultimate goal is to provide a space for people to collectively stop, pause, and reflect on their faith through Advent/Christmas music, readings, and visual art. Chancel Choir (Adults), Chancel Ringers (Adult Handbell Choir), Youth Choir (grades 6 – 12), and Children’s Choir (grades 1 – 5) will participate, along with a hired string quintet. Typically, I would find a way to combine all ensembles. However, this year, due to the pandemic, I am limiting that aspect of the concert. For example, Chancel Choir will sing a few selections with the string quintet, but not sing with the Children’s or Youth Choirs.

From my perspective, repertoire is one of the key determining factors whether or not an ensemble is successful. For the concert, I decided to repeat a few more pieces than I typically would. I also dialed down on the difficulty level and chose choral music with more limited ranges in all parts. I believe so much in the intent of the concert that I want to do my part to ensure that all performers are emotionally engaged and not thinking too much about the technical aspects of the repertoire.

As a result, for today’s post, I thought I would share and review a taste of some of the repertoire I’ve programmed in case it would be of help to any of you.

Handbells

Lo, How a Rose arr. Cathy Moklebust, Choristers Guild CGB843. 3, 4, or 5 octaves, L2+.

https://www.choristersguild.org/store/cgb843-lo-how-a-rose-full-score/2080/

I conducted this anthem during the Christmas Concert at my church in 2019. One of the wonderful aspects of this piece is its flexibility. It can be rung with just bells, or a combination of bells and organ or strings. Two years ago, I used both organ and strings. Conducting it was a very moving experience and I’m glad to revisit the piece again this year. It’s a wonderful piece to work on legato ringing, dynamics, and rubato.

The King Shall Come arr. Cathy Moklebust, Choristers Guild, CGB690 (2-3 octaves) or CGB691 (3, 4, 5, or 6 octaves). L2.

https://www.choristersguild.org/store/cgb691-the-king-shall-come-3-4-5-or-6-octaves/4382/

This is another piece that is great to work on legato ringing, dynamics, and rubato. There are optional chime tree, suspended cymbal, and finger cymbal parts. However, the piece is lovely without the percussion parts. It’s based on a powerful hymn of the same name as the handbell arrangement.

Vocal Choir

Light of Hope by Mark Patterson. Unison with piano and optional handbells or handchimes.

https://www.choristersguild.org/store/cga1552-light-of-hope/8096/

This collection contains three pieces that cover Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. The Children’s Choir I direct is working on the first two anthems. Each has an optional part for 4 or 5 handbells or handchimes. Although each anthem is short, there is a lot to teach in terms of the church year, music literacy, technique, and expressive singing.

Jesus, What a Wonderful Child arr. Rollo Dilworth. SAB with piano and optional trumpets, bass, and drums.

https://www.jwpepper.com/10515981.item#.YXd0STZKjeo

Fortunately this piece is available in multiple voicings. My Youth Choir is working on the SAB voicing. It would also be suitable for an Adult Choir with limited numbers of tenors and basses. It’s great for teaching style, dynamics, and expressive singing.

O Emmanuel by Karen Marrolli. SATB with piano and violin.

https://www.ecspublishing.com/catalog/product/view/id/74331/s/o-emmanuel/

This anthem is a setting of the tune STAR IN THE EAST in a text by the composer while also referencing the hymn text by Reginald Heber. The violin part captures the yearning for light and healing that the text references. While it is composed in SATB voicing, there are some sections in unison. This is a moving piece with accessible vocal lines. This is a piece the Chancel Choir is singing during the concert.

Walk in the Light arr. Andre Thomas. SATB with piano.

https://www.choristersguild.org/store/cga1063-walk-in-the-light-satb/3514/

This is a joyful piece that also has a Unison/two-part voicing (CGA1062). In the past, I’ve combined Adult, Children’s, and Youth Choirs. This year, the Chancel Choir will be singing it during the concert. It is an energetic and joyful anthem that focuses on Jesus as the light of the world.

Although there are so many current challenging situations, I have found great joy working on this repertoire with my ensembles. As it gets closer to the concert, I’ll share more of the repertoire I’ve planned, as well as other aspects of the program. What Advent and Christmas music are you most excited about this season? Feel free to share in the comment section!

Creating Transformative Experiences: Rest and Pause

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Just a few years ago, December 25 was on a Sunday in 2016. At the church I served at the time, all were encouraged to wear their PJs to church, including staff. As it turns out, only staff dressed in that way, including me! I dressed in PJ bottoms, t-shirt with a fleece, and slippers. Definitely not usual attire for a Sunday morning at church.

Since it is a rarity to have Christmas Day on a Sunday, I wanted to mark the day in a special musical way. As a Bach enthusiast and baritone, the aria “Großer Herr, o starker König” came to mind. It’s from the first Cantata from the Christmas Oratorio, written for Christmas Day. I had sung it several times in the past, so I thought it was a good addition, even the day after leading multiple Christmas Eve services. With the unique attire that morning, it was probably the most comfortable I’ve been singing music by J.S. Bach. If you’re unfamiliar with the aria, here’s a recording:

Perhaps you noticed a lot of fast and seemingly endless notes. In the aria, finding places to breathe that are not obvious took time and practice. If there was a place where I had to take a quick breath, I would practice the first and second passages by themselves, then gradually over time connect them so I could sing at the desired tempo. Similarly, finding moments to pause or breathe in our lives sometimes takes time and practice. From my perspective, we’re living in a long, fast, extended piece with seemingly endless melismas in sight. It’s only through close examination where we can find those short moments of pause and breath that help us keep going.

In full disclosure, I’m writing this post during several days of time off. It’s the first instance in a very long time when I remember that I’ve been truly able to stop. Almost like a slightly longer interlude before the next long phrase in that metaphorical Bach aria. While I have a temporary pause at the moment, I know a mountain of projects and priorities are awaiting me when I return. Even in the midst of such frenetic activity, I know I’ll need to find ways of pausing and resting in order to serve my community to the best of my ability.

I was observing a masterclass once and a performer sang a fast piece by Bach. After they were finished singing, the teacher asked where the points of rest were. After some confused looks from the performer, the teacher pointed out “notice how there’s a quarter note after so many sixteenth notes” or “consider lifting after this particular eighth note”. Perhaps we could find those metaphorical moments of pause amidst a rapid torrent of sixteenth notes? Just as it takes practice to find those spots in a piece, so it takes practice to find those spots in life.

In music, I find that a few things go into practicing a challenging piece include, but are not limited to: making mistakes, slowing down, persistence, finding the exact spot(s) giving me trouble, stepping away for a time, or finding the right tempo. Maybe quarter = 80 isn’t doable today. Perhaps quarter = 70 is more realistic. From my experience, life isn’t that much different. Finding those brief points of rest or pause may involve making mistakes, slowing down, persistence, or stepping away. Or rather than overhauling everything, perhaps there’s one specificpart of my life I can pinpoint where I can slow down?

In addition to thinking about pauses and rests for myself, perhaps I can think about rehearsals as pauses and rests for our singers and ringers. What could I do to give that gift every rehearsal? How can I intentionally give ensemble members space to slow down? Sometimes I’ve had ensemble members breathe in and out three times before moving on to the next piece. Perhaps if I did that consistently, that would provide a sense of spaciousness without taking a whole lot time out of rehearsal. Or as another option, perhaps I could engage singers more for a few minutes on the meaning of a text we’re singing.

On the other hand, I don’t believe that slowing down means choosing pieces that are only at a slow tempo. However, one piece did come to mind, called “God’s Peace”. A subtitle is “Come Away from Rush and Hurry”. I included the link below for the SATB voicing. The piece also comes in SAB voicing (Hope Publishing C5987). The text is by Marva Dawn set to the tune of BEACH SPRING by C.J. Adams.

https://www.hopepublishing.com/W3514_GODS_PEACE

I’ve conducted this piece several times. Each time, it takes on new meaning because the text has such richness and depth.

Are there activities that have helped you rest and pause, even briefly? If so, comment below! May we all find moments of rest in chaotic and busy times.

Creating Transformative Experiences: Concerts and Special Events

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Now that we are well into the program year, my guess is that many of you might be thinking ahead to events in December. Before the pandemic, many of us may have hosted a concert or special worship service celebrating the Advent and Christmas seasons where we crammed singers into the Chancel or onto a stage and had concert halls or Sanctuaries full of congregants or audience members.

I’ve planned many of these types of events in the past. They’ve been a great way of ministering to community members through themes of the Advent and Christmas seasons. Before the pandemic, I often used an annual Lessons and Carols service or concert as a way of giving people an opportunity to sing who could not on a regular basis. As a result of the Delta variant, cramming singers into a tight space could be a health risk. In addition, might even having a live audience be too much of a risk?

Perhaps such an event is a beloved tradition in your community. I totally get it. On the other hand, this might be the year to really dig into what made that event so special and present something memorable for this time and season. Or perhaps create a different type of event. In the book The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker, I find a quote on page 3 rather helpful.

“When we don’t examine the deeper assumptions behind why we gather, we end up skipping too quickly to replicating old, staid formats of gathering. And we forgo the possibility of creating something memorable, even transformative.”

I would guess that many of you have successfully and safely adapted events over the course of the past 18 months. While I will focus on the Advent/Christmas season today, I will use a similar process of reflection for other events.

At my church, I would typically present two Advent/Christmas concerts with anthems, readings, and hymns the audience would sing on. This year, I wanted to have a concert but knew I would need options for optimum flexibility. I knew that I wanted to provide the community a memorable experience through Advent and Christmas themes, specifically surrounding the themes of darkness and light. Collective ways of processing emotions have been limited in the past 18 months and I wanted to provide a venue for that. In addition, creativity can be very healing and a good way of processing grief and other emotions.

With having such a program, so many questions came to mind. Should I have a live audience or just live-stream the concert? What kind of audience participation do I include? I was talking with a good friend Dr. Shannon Gravelle, who suggested that if I plan for the safest possible scenario now, it’s a win-win situation. With that thought in mind, I plowed ahead. First, I decided to have only one concert. Second, I have been up front with the ensembles we may not have a live-audience and that it may need to be live-streamed.

Beyond some of those COVID-related questions, I’m asking myself typical questions about programming with regards to repertoire, voicing, where to place each particular piece, flow of the concert, etc.

On the other hand, some of those artistic factors will be impacted by a desire to be as safe as possible. As a result, any singing will appear towards the second half of the program. The first half will consist of orchestral or handbell music, readings, and spoken reflections. It will also consist of creative ways for the audience to actively reflect or participate. Some rough ideas are giving them opportunities to write during a musical selection. Or perhaps creating a word cloud in real time that would appear on a screen in the Sanctuary. The theme will be centered around concepts of light and darkness, so I could also see being creative with lighting to help create a transformative experience.

Needless to say, I still have a lot of questions, planning to do, and finalizing repertoire. For the choral pieces, I’m contemplating pieces that are easier to learn in order to focus on teaching concepts, fine tuning, and safety in case some choir members would need to quarantine. I thought I would share two of the pieces I’ve decided to program. One is Walk in the Light arr. Andre Thomas. It is available in SATB (CGA 1063) and Unison/2-part (CGA 1062) voicings. The other is a piece for handbell choir, The King Shall Come arr. Cathy Moklebust. It’s a Level 2 piece for 3 – 6 octaves (CGB 691) or 2 – 3 octaves (CGB 690). Both pieces are published through Choristers Guild.

Walk in the Light

The King Shall Come (starts at 1:42).

When I have determined the repertoire, I will post the program so you can see what the final product is. Happy planning all of your special musical events and concerts!

Creating Transformative Experiences in Worship and Rehearsals

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I live in Jacksonville, FL and frequently I go to the beach. Labor Day weekend had some beautiful and perfect beach weather. However, on one particular day, the waves were too rough to swim. So I sat and watched the ocean, read, and at times stood ankle deep in the water. Since I live 25 – 30 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean, I’ve been to the beach several times in the two years I’ve lived here. There have been times I’ve gone where the surf has been much more turbulent. At other times, the ocean has been extremely calm.

That epiphany helped remind me that it’s a lot like life. Sometimes the waves feel like they’re going to drown us. Other times, it’s smooth sailing. Right now, it feels like life’s waves are rougher rather than smoother. Perhaps you can relate.

The hymn O God Our Help in Ages Past came to mind. Here is an excellent rendition of an arrangement by Jeremy Bankson from First Plymouth Church in Lincoln, Nebraska.

My name is Austen Wilson and I’m the Director of Music and Worship Arts at Mandarin UMC in Jacksonville, FL. In these blog posts, I plan on writing about how we can better withstand the rough waves of life and help enable transformative experiences in rehearsals and worship, even in these tough times. I’ll include specific activities, resources, or repertoire that have worked for me in the context of worship in music. I’ll bring artistic inspiration through videos found on YouTube and other platforms. Finally, I’ll write about questions I’m thinking about that help me withstand those waves and create transformative experiences in worship and rehearsals.

One of the key resources I’m using is a book called The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. It emphasizes the importance of discovering a clear and compelling purpose behind an activity. As we are in the beginning of a new season, what are your top 2 – 3 priorities/purposes for this year? Since we are all in different contexts, our priorities will look different. Mine happen to be the following:

  1. Enable transformational experiences in rehearsals and in worship.
  2. Re-Discover, Re-Awaken, and Revitalize the Congregation’s Voice
  3. Deepen connections between people who are in person and connect people who are in person with people who are at home

Based on those priorities, I’ve already started making changes to procedures I had done for years. Every week, I send out announcements by email to all my choirs. In the past, it’s contained a hodge-podge of communication, including logistics, rehearsals files, and other information. The announcements were usually sent out a day or two before the rehearsal, depending on how busy my week was.

This practice and much of the format were modeled off of eNews that the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia sends out, a choir I sang with from 2015 – 2019. However, it was only recently where I asked myself what the purpose was of my weekly announcements in my current context? As a result, I made some changes.

If one of my goals is to “Re-Discover, Re-Awaken, and Revitalize the Congregation’s Voice”, then I needed to look at all tools at my disposal, one of which is the weekly announcements. Since the Chancel Choir is a key player in this goal, their leadership on hymns is crucial. As a result, I made the decision to send the hymn texts. The more singers read the texts, the better they’ll be able to confidently lead the congregation in singing. In addition, if I wanted the choir to read the hymn texts ahead of time and practice at home, I needed to email them the announcements earlier in the week. Instead of a day or two before the Thursday rehearsal, I decided to send the announcements no later than Monday. I also decided to have a prayer request section towards the top that asked if they had any prayer requests for rehearsal on Thursday. For my other ensembles, changes to the weekly email announcements will reflect specific priorities for those ensembles. Only time will tell how much of an impact these changes will make in the long-term.

In the short-term, the Chancel (Adult) Choir sings every Sunday except for 4 – 6 weeks during the summer. Especially with rehearsing with masks on and not knowing who might have to quarantine due to exposure to Covid, finding the right repertoire has been paramount. Recently, we sang Welcome by Mark Miller and Let All the World in Every Corner Sing by Calvin Hampton. Both are extremely adaptable and accessible. Fittingly, we sang Welcome on September 4, the first Sunday the new Senior Pastor preached. For more information on those resources, here are the following links:

Welcome:

Let All the World in Every Corner Sing:

The score for Welcome can be found in a collection called Roll Down, Justice! Songbook at this link:

https://www.choristersguild.org/sacred-songs-and-social-justice/

As we start another academic/program year, I hope you are able to enable meaningful and transformative experiences with your singers, even in the midst of chaotic and changing times.

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