Austen Wilson

Creating Transformative Experiences: Concerts and Special Events

September 28, 2021 by Austen Wilson 2 Comments

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

September 14, 2021 by Austen Wilson Leave a Comment

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:

Enable transformational experiences in rehearsals and in worship.
Re-Discover, Re-Awaken, and Revitalize the Congregation’s Voice
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.

Modulating/Adjusting to a New Era: Closing Thoughts Part 2 of 2

August 31, 2021 by Austen Wilson Leave a Comment

Welcome to this summer series on questions and possibilities for a new era in our personal lives, professional lives, the choral landscape, and in society! I’m so glad you’re here for the journey.

By now, many of us have started rehearsals again for the year, whether in a school, worship, collegiate, or community setting. In terms of rosters and logistics, most likely we know our starting point for this year. Perhaps it’s what we expected. Or not. Perhaps some of us have voicings in one of our choirs we’ve never encountered before. Or we found out that we took a hit in numbers and have a lot of rebuilding ahead of us.

Re-visiting the first post I wrote in the summer, life doesn’t feel quite as dissonant.

https://choralnet.org/2021/06/an-e-natural-in-an-e-flat-major-world-modulating-adjusting-to-a-new-era/

There’s still a lot of uncertainty and discomfort. However, I don’t quite feel as dissonant. While still not how it was pre-pandemic, I’m starting to get some questions and ideas for this year. With regards to my adult Chancel Choir, I know who is comfortable coming to rehearsals and who is more comfortable staying home due to concerns over the Delta variant. For the singers in the second category, I tell them that they’re missed and hope they’re able to return soon. On the other, I feel a pang of guilt since I’m not sure where we’d have space for them in the Chancel, due to social distancing, when they decide to return.

Recently I was reminded of the anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birthday on August 25, 1918. I looked for a video of him conducting Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. Unfortunately, I could not find a video, but I did find an audio recording on YouTube. That piece, so masterfully conducted by Bernstein, reminded me of the tension and grief of our world. Even in the midst of the pain, there is still release of that tension, even if it comes after waiting for a very long time.

During particularly stressful times during the pandemic, going deep and connecting with my priorities and purpose have helped me emerge from tough emotional times. Within the past year, I came across the book The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. Here is a TED talk she gave that illustrates her wisdom:

In her book on page 3, I found a passage to be particularly insightful. “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.” While the book doesn’t mention choral conducting or rehearsals, there are so many concepts in the book that can transform rehearsals and each piece my choirs sing. My hope is the concepts can also aid in transforming worship services, especially with some people attending in person and many attending online.

In my own context, the next Senior Pastor starts on September 1. I’m looking forward to getting to know him and working with him. I’m hopeful that he’ll chart a long-term vision for the congregation. Especially since he’ll have a fresh perspective on the congregation, I’m looking forward to bringing concepts from The Art of Gathering to see what positive changes can be made to worship.

As this summer series comes to an end, I’m excited to mention that I will continue to blog on a regular basis for ChoralNet! Starting September 14, I’ll post every other week. The focus will have a worship in music lens. I plan on including multi-media elements: either recordings of performances or talks that I find inspiring.

I’ll examine a few topics, including but not limited to:

How do we keep choir members connected to each other? How do we connect those who are attending in person with those who have elected to stay home?
As Director of Music at a church, how are we priest and prophet? Thanks to Dr. Anton Armstrong for that insightful question.
How do we create memorable and meaningful rehearsals, performances, and worship services? I’ll share some nuggets of wisdom I applied from The Art of Gathering to choir and worship.

I intend on sharing practical ideas that worked, in hopes that they’ll help some of you. I also hope that you’ll share what is working for you throughout the year. Even though this era feels very isolating, let’s remind each other that we are not alone! I look forward to connecting with you in future. Stay tuned for additional blog posts, starting September 14!

Modulating/Adjusting to a New Era: Closing Thoughts Part 1 of 2

August 24, 2021 by Austen Wilson Leave a Comment

As I was preparing for this week’s post, I re-read the earlier entries I wrote and remembered the mindset I was in at the time. During the first post, vaccines were on the rise and COVID was on the retreat. I was feeling optimistic that we were starting to turn a corner on the pandemic and hopeful that the summer would provide a bridge to fewer masked gatherings. Unfortunately, that scenario has not panned out yet. The Delta variant has spread like wildfire. At my church, various restrictions have been put back into place.

We are still in a new era, just not that new era I had hoped for back in June 2021. On the other hand, I am thankful that we are not in the same place we were in back in August 2020. We know much more how to rehearse ensembles safely. I would suspect that virtual choirs will be much less a part of the choral landscape during this current academic year.

Luckily this time around, I feel as if I have more information to help me through this season. Yet, I find that I still have a lot of questions. Early in the pandemic, I heard someone remark, “It’s like we’re trying to cross a bridge and build it at the same time.” It still feels like that.

Over the summer, I was reminded how important community is to choirs and worshipping communities. I’ve been thinking about how to strengthen community, especially in these challenging times. I’ve been asking myself a few questions that I don’t have the answers to yet. In my adult Chancel Choir, there are several members who don’t feel comfortable returning to choir just yet because the Delta variant is so widespread. How do I keep them connected to the Chancel Choir community even if they’re not physically present at rehearsals or in worship? In the past, I’ve done a number of types of fellowship events that have been successful in multiple churches. From my perspective, many of those events are off the table because they involve a large group of people indoors for a few hours. How do I pivot to activities that build community, yet are safe?

And that was an example of only one ensemble! Regarding the worshipping community as a whole at my congregation, many have elected to stay home on Sunday mornings and watch worship from home. How do I help them stay connected to the whole congregation?

From a musical standpoint, I also have some unanswered questions. Earlier in the summer, we had increased the number of singers allowed in the Chancel. Now due to social distancing, I’m limited to 18 singers in the Chancel. However, I have more than 18 singers in the Chancel Choir. How do I rotate ensemble members so each singer has an equal opportunity to sing in choir in worship?

One of the greatest joys I have is presenting an Advent/Christmas concert in December. Normally that would be an event where I could recruit and gain a number of additional singers. Even without the additional singers, I would have a much larger choir than spacing allows. How do I involve all singers equally? In addition, while I hope the Delta variant improves by December, things could be the same or worse than they are now. In that light, it may not be wise to have an audience. In that case, might I simply record the concert and release it online? When would that decision need to be made? I’m sure many of you may be asking similar questions.

Another series of questions I have is about success. How do I evaluate this year? What does success look like this year? Perhaps more than ever it’s more about quality than quantity, process over product. Perhaps I could intentionally leave time for more skill-building or more questions that would engage singers in the music.

Apart from professional considerations, this is a perfect time to self-reflect and figure out the right balance for me between work and other areas of my life. Before the pandemic, it was easy for work to be all-consuming. Now, it’s even easier. Above all, I try to remind myself that I haven’t lived through a pandemic before. Even though we’re a year and a half in, let’s all treat ourselves kindly and with compassion.

Perhaps you have some answers from questions asked in the post. If so, I’d love to hear them! Comment below. In the meantime, let us be inspired by this rendition of “Be Thou My Vision” from 2013 from First-Plymouth Church in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Modulating/Adjusting to a New Era: Composition and a Conversation with Karen Marrolli

August 10, 2021 by Austen Wilson Leave a Comment

Despite being locked down for so much of the pandemic, my awareness of music and composers grew. Colleagues, good friendships, and other treasured relationships were forged or solidified. Even before COVID, I expanded the music I do in worship. A few years ago, I was looking for an anthem for Ash Wednesday when I came across To Dust by Karen Marrolli. I fell in love with it and have conducted it more than once. Another favorite of her’s that I enjoy is I Sought the Lord.

When I moved to Jacksonville, FL in July 2019, one of my goals was to commission an anthem. After successful Christmas Concerts in 2019, I knew that 2020 would be the year I would commission for the first time. Being impressed with her compositions for adult church choirs, I contacted Karen in early January 2020 about a commission for Christmas Concerts in December 2020.

Based on the initial conversation, I knew I was building the program around the Magnificat and the Christmas narrative in Luke 2. Karen and I discussed parameters, timeline, and price. All factors were amenable to she and I, and I was excited to have my first commission! As 2020 progressed, I had some additional thoughts on the Christmas concerts. On March 12, 2020, I sent Ms. Marrolli an email, right before things shut down in Jacksonville. In it, “the text” refers to the Magnificat.

“What’s really speaking to me about the text is how God upends expectations (brought down the powerful/lifted up the lowly, sent the rich empty away, etc.). Another stream of thought I’ve had is whose voices directly speak in the Magnificat and the Christmas story. To bring it to the present day, whose voices are left out, either socially or musically?”

Talk about relevant topics! After a few weeks, we decided to proceed with the commission, entitled My Heart Shall Sing, not knowing when it would be premiered. At first, I thought it might need to be a virtual choir anthem. As vaccination rates increased, I decided to premier it in worship on July 25, 2021. Hopefully in the near future My Heart Shall Sing will be published!

I had the good fortune to chat with Karen about how she has fared during the pandemic. She is the Director of Music Ministries at Central United Methodist Church in Albequerque, NM. In the early stages of the pandemic, she did a lot of singing at the piano, which impacted her composition. Karen wrote these solos with COVID in mind. Some of those solos are now arranged in 2 – 3 parts. Multi-media was an important priority for these new works. Here is an example of one of those projects:

Starting in April 2021, her church moved forward and started opening up. During worship, Karen had choirs sing outside, and that audio was piped into the Sanctuary during worship. Eventually worship moved inside in July. At first masks were optional for those vaccinated. Now masks are required. There is still social distancing of about 3 feet between people. However, these procedures may have changed in the past few weeks with the Delta variant running wild.

I asked Karen about the genesis of My Heart Shall Sing. It was the text of the Magnificat that was the initial springboard. She really liked the dichotomy of terms, for example “brought down the powerful/lifted up the only”. The text wasn’t just Mary meekly bowing her head, but rather saying something revolutionary. In the original project, there was a desire for the congregation to sing along, hence she included parts of the hymn Canticle of the Turning. With regards to the instrumentation (piano, violin, percussion), the Canticle is set to an Irish text. Karen mentioned she wanted to compose in the style of an Irish reel, hence the violin. As a traditional Irish reel needs a groove, she added conga drums to much of the anthem.

Thankfully, COVID has not impacted Karen’s commissions and she has been getting steady commissions throughout. Currently, she’s arranging some of her solos for choirs. She also just finished a piece for a church in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and another for the Xia Singers. In the coming year, she hopes that “People take music more seriously and don’t think of it as a sideshow.” Karen also thinks that people have realized how much they miss singing and choir.

The best way to get in touch with Karen is through her website: www.karenmarrollimusic.com. She is accepting commissions!

From speaking with Karen and the commissioning process, I was reminded of a few things. Unfortunately, this pandemic is far from over, so it’s best to have multiple plans for the same event/activity. There’s something very special about helping to birth a new piece of music and adding it to the body of choral repertoire in the world. The composers I’ve spoken with are eager to accept commissions. Especially in a world with so much destruction, it’s inspirational to be involved in an act of creation through a new piece of music or even simply a regular rehearsal.

Modulating/Adjusting to a New Era: Pivoting When the Unexpected Happens

August 3, 2021 by Austen Wilson Leave a Comment

Originally today’s post was going to be content from an interview with church musician and composer Karen Marrolli. However, due to extenuating circumstances, I’ve needed to pivot. I was all set to write the post when I received an alarming call. Several hours later and after a report to a police officer, I realized I had been targeted in a scam. Luckily, I only think the scammers got away with taking some money and not sensitive personal information. In hindsight, I realized I should have hung up immediately, but it sounded very plausible in the moment. Unfortunately, sometimes life is the toughest teacher.

So this post is going to be a little shorter than normal. I’m still a little shaken, but there are a few takeaways I’ve been reminded of in the past several hours.

It’s good to acknowledge my own limits. I highly value reliability, which includes getting things done on time. I’m certainly adept and churning out content at the last minute. Back in the day I think I finished some music history papers just in the nick of time 🙂 However, in this instance, I was stuck. Not only was I under a time crunch, but emotionally I was drained. I asked my good friend, colleague, and fellow blogger Dr. Shannon Gravelle for some advice, who suggested I could write about events today. Brilliant idea! On a side note, I highly recommend checking out her very insightful blog posts. Needless to say, I decided to accept my limits and acknowledge that I can’t do everything.

Speaking of doing everything, it feels like I wear so. many. hats. All the time. One of the hats that doesn’t get worn as much as it needs to be is “human”. Especially in a pandemic, leaning into one’s own humanity is a great gift not only to myself, but to others around me.

One of the downsides of the pandemic, especially in the early days, was being in lock down for so long. Regular support networks may have faltered or vanished. On the other hand, I need a constant reminder that we’re not truly alone and that there are people out there waiting to cheer us on, give advice, laugh with, or provide a shoulder to cry. Having that support network is so important, especially in challenging times such as during a pandemic.

This evening has been very emotionally charged. I’ve found it helpful to have some practices I can lean on to help center myself. Among other things, there are a number of albums or playlists on Spotify I’ll listen to. I’ve taken a particular liking to “Night” by Ola Gjeilo:

If you enjoy that and aren’t familiar with his choral music, check it out!

Finally, I thought I would give you taste for next week’s blog post, based on an interview with Karen Marrolli. She writes extremely well for adult church choirs and also composes engaging solos. Although this video is of a solo, entitled Come and See, it will become a choral piece in the future. While the song was written with COVID in mind, I think the message is wonderful for all kinds of occasions.