Church Choir

Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Story Time

January 3, 2019 by Marie Grass Amenta Leave a Comment

“Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story.” Casey Stengel

Happy New Year ChoralNet! I hope you all had wonderful holidays. And I also hope you spent some time recharging and refreshing before your next batch of rehearsals and classes begin.

January’s Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics Blogs will be a bit of everything; including ChoralNetter problems. Toward the end of the month, I will begin sharing my experience participating and rehearsing a very special choral performance— as a singer for a change— more about that later in the month. But this first Thursday of January is story time.

Maryrose* wrote me early in December with a story about doing what she believed was the right thing. She thinks it’s important for others to be given permission to do what they know is right in their hearts. Maryrose wants me to tell her story because she struggled deciding what to do initially but when she thought about it, the answer came to her easily.

The story isn’t unusual; one of her church choir singers nagged her for five years to sing “Oh Holy Night” on Christmas Eve. The congregation had a “Christmas Eve Prelude Concert” and it was quite a big deal. It was usually thirty to forty-five minutes long, right before their Christmas Eve service. The service, itself, was modeled on Lessons and Carols with some space for music. The choir usually sang one or two anthems; there were occasionally non-scripture readings (Shakespeare or Dickens or even O. Henry) and congregational hymns and carols. Solos were saved for the Prelude-Concert.

The day they met, Sue-Rae* told Maryrose she had been cheated out of a chance to sing on Christmas Eve a few years before and demanded to be allowed to sing that year. Clergy told Maryrose that Sue-Rae brought up not being allowed to sing on that past Christmas Eve all the time. And it wasn’t for the reason you think; Sue-Rae had had pneumonia and was in the hospital. Somehow she thought she should get to sing anyway, no matter when, and asked to sing “O Holy Night” during the Easter Service that year. When told “no,” she was angry and unreasonable.

Maryrose was told to hold off doing anything too unusual on the Christmas Eve concert her first year so she could see how it worked. The adult choir sang several beautiful anthems, a soloist sang “Gesu Bambino” and the bell choir did a stunning piece with the children’s choir. Janice*, her best soprano, told Maryrose to watch out for Sue-Rae because she was not reliable. She decided not to have Sue-Rae sing that year simply because she had “O Holy Night” fatigue. Sue-Rae was furious.

Things went along at the church the way they usually do. And every year, without fail, as the choir year was winding down, Sue-Rae would ask to sing “O Holy Night” for Christmas Eve. Maryrose would tell her she would think about it during the summer as she was doing her Advent and Christmas planning. And she did. The thing was, Janice was right; Sue-Rae WAS NOT reliable. Every time she was supposed to sing a solo, Sue-Rae would have a cold or decided to go to Florida or one of her kids had a game at the last minute. Maryrose spent too much time after asking Sue-Rae to sing, getting a Plan B together for the inevitable. As the years went on, she would still think about Sue-Rae doing “O Holy Night,” on Christmas Eve as promised, but only for a few seconds!

The last year Maryrose served that church; she acquiesced and decided to have Sue-Rae sing on Christmas Eve. Maryrose knew she would be leaving due to her spouse’s job and thought it would be nice. But she didn’t realize she had inadvertently created a tempest in a teacup. She asked Janice to be her Plan B in the event, after all that whining, Sue-Rae backed out at the last minute.

That year, the Christmas Eve Prelude Concert was wonderful; Sue-Rae did a more than adequate job. But Janice’s nose was out of joint and she told Maryrose she would not be back to choir practice until Lent; she was punishing her for the whole Sue-Rae thing. Maryrose told me; at that point, she was HAPPY she was leaving at the end of the choir year!

Last October, Maryrose ran into one of Sue-Rae’s daughters in a department store. She learned Sue-Rae had died the year before and her singing “O Holy Night” for Christmas Eve was something she had talked about until the end of her life. It made Maryrose tear up because, in spite of everything, she knows she did the right thing. She has no regrets.

*Name Withheld

Choral Potpourri: We Had a Plan

December 13, 2018 by Marie Grass Amenta Leave a Comment

“To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.” Leonard Bernstein

If you are anything like me, your December concert and worship music for this year was planned during the summer or before. Your plans are coming to fruition or close to it. You are calm, knowing things are falling into place, right? Or maybe not.

There is always something to muck up our carefully laid plans around this time of year. A soloist gets sick, a snowstorm causes trouble or instrumentalists with car issues make us squirm. We handle whatever is thrown at us, and if we are smart, are flexible. Sometimes, the challenge to get things “right” turns our simple plans on their heads and somehow, the revised and improvised plan is better than we had ever imagined.

Dante* had grand plans last year. The Sunday before Christmas was to be the cantata to end all cantatas at his church. His Pastor approved a music budget for this Advent event he had only dreamed about. This was due to a significant monetary legacy donated to the church’s music program during the summer. There was enough left over for next year’s music budget to be doubled from years past. What a blessing!

He hired two vocal soloists from the local university, thirty minutes away. He arranged for a small string orchestra comprised of professionals from the city. He rehearsed his volunteer church choir, beginning from the first choir rehearsal in September, until everyone knew the music from memory. The church organist loved the music, accompanying as usual for rehearsals. But he was really looking forward to getting a chance to sing for a change. Dante was excited. Dante was nervous. But Dante was prepared, or so he thought.

There was a dress rehearsal the Friday before that Sunday. Everything was going according to plan. The soprano soloist happened to be the teacher of one of the “daughters of the church,” Ginny*, and was especially thrilled her student would be singing in the choir. The small string orchestra was wonderful to work with and Dante was having a great time conducting. The organist was having a great time singing. And the choir was enjoying singing a great work with an orchestra.

The Saturday before the Sunday, everything began to go south. The baritone soloist called at lunch time to say his wife (the soprano) had lost her voice. He would still sing but there was NO WAY she could, even if her voice improved a little the next day. He suggested having Ginny sing, since she had studied the soprano solo sections with her teacher (the soprano soloist) during the fall. Dante arranged for Ginny to be coached by the baritone that afternoon and trusted all would be well.

Saturday night, it began to snow. It snowed all night and portions of the interstate from the city were closed. Dante began to get phone messages and texts early that morning from players in the string orchestra telling him it was impossible for them to get there that morning. All except two violins, a viola and ‘cello contacted him. He didn’t realize that until he got to church. Since Dante was fairly confident his organist would be able to play, he didn’t think to check who had contacted him and who didn’t.

Dante arrived early at the church to chaos, with the Sexton snowplowing the parking lot and the Pastor worrying about low turnout for worship. The organist arrived soon after, fully resigned to playing instead of singing. Then, a string quartet walked in and no, this is not the punch line from a joke. The two violins, viola and ‘cello were part of the string orchestra Dante had hired and had a gig as a quartet in the area Saturday night. They decided to spend the night instead of going back when the weather got bad. The choir straggled in, mostly on time for their Call, despite the weather. Dante had to do some fancy rearranging before the service began but took a deep breath and dived in.

Let’s review:

The weather outside was frightful.
Substitute soprano soloist did a beautiful job.
String quartet instead of a small string orchestra.
Choir knew the work, backwards and forwards, and sang well.
Organist got to sing.
Pews were filled.
The family who donated the monetary legacy in their mother’s name was moved to tears at how beautiful and special it was. They are thinking about donating more money to the music program.

The verdict: the best musical performance Dante had ever been a part of, snow or no snow. There isn’t one thing he would change. Well, there is one thing he would do differently. Next time, it’s an Easter cantata when there is NO chance of snow!

*Name withheld

Sing Community, Sing Peace

December 10, 2018 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The January issue of Choral Journal is now available online at acda.org/choraljournal, and it should be arriving in mailboxes soon if not already. This issue is a preview of the 2019 National Conference in Kansas City, Feb 27-March 2. This will be an exciting conference, with tried-and-true offerings along with brand-new opportunities for networking, learning, and listening.

One of the offerings at the 2019 conference is a music and worship service. In anticipation of these performances, Terry York shares some insight into this theme in a special article found in the January 2019 issue on page 11. Below is an excerpt of the article.
___________________

Enough talking, already. It all sounds like Charlie Brown’s school teacher. Sing. Sing so that we might learn, again, how to listen to what we hear.

With patterns of tempo and expression, choral directors sculpt the clay of sung truth and beauty. It is beauty that first comes to mind when we think of art, but a new and urgent day has dawned. We must now think of art in terms of truth seeking and truth telling. An image planted by hymn writer Ernest Shurtleff in 1887 has blossomed full in our day: “Lead on, oh [God] eternal, the day of march has come.” Community and peace must be sung with renewed purpose and resolve. It is not from a podium of red or blue that I write, but from a pulpit of Lenten purple.

We have seen the concepts of community and peace twisted by agitated and frightened agendas. Choral directors, sing the truth of community, sing the truth of peace. Sing until the fog of fear clears from our congregations and audiences. Sing until they recognize—and cringe at the sound of—propaganda. Sing with faith and its twin, creativity. Sing with humility and its twin, courage. To do so is to sing the gospel.

Anthems and hymn-arrangements create five-minute worlds that float in sanctuary and performance hall. These worlds are crafted with detail and nuance of lyric and music. There is much to see and hear, much to consider. Compelling performance awakens imagination, inviting the singers and listeners to enter those temporary worlds, to look around, to listen. There are insights to be discovered in these worlds. At the cut-off , the singers and hearers return to their individual worlds of tough questions and demanding responsibilities. But they return changed by the journey, even the short journey. They return better equipped for the important work of discernment, for the important work of making a difference.

It has long been known that travel, journeys, and pilgrimages expand and enrich one’s worldview. Concepts of community and peace are high on the list of sensibilities that can be changed for life by travel. Choral directors create compelling worlds of community and peace, then shepherd the congregation from pew to pilgrimage and back to pew; usher the audience from numbered row and seat to newly created destinations of truth and beauty.

This is your work, and your work has never been more crucial than it is now. The church choir is a key ensemble in this choral commitment to community and peace. Congregations are different than audiences, but both gatherings are essential to the project of singing the truth of community and the truth of peace.

Sing the gospel, whether as education or as inspiration or as motivation, even as entertainment. Help the people hear an echo and catch a glimpse of the peaceable community that faith offers. Let them see that an alternative worldview and way is at hand and within reach. Community and peace are not to be thought of as visions of the naïve.

Help congregations and audiences imagine and believe that authentic community and enriching peace can be restored despite all the evidence to the contrary. Create five-minute worlds of truth and worship that will forever be emblazoned on their hearts; worlds that they carry with them to be revisited when peace is needed and opportunities to create community arise. Sing well. Encourage the soul. Much is at stake.

Read the rest of this article, along with the entire 2019 National Conference preview in the January issue of Choral Journal!

Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Using Music for Good

October 18, 2018 by Marie Grass Amenta Leave a Comment

“I may be helping to bring harmony between people through my music.” Nat King Cole

The world is crazy and times are tough. How do you cope when things turn difficult? Many people sing together. They join their worship community choir; serving their congregation as well as making themselves feel better by singing with others. Others find a community outlet to sing in and it’s doubly great if that community chorus has a service component.

I know several children’s choruses who state one of the missions of their group, in addition to children making music together, is to help the community become a better place. Children are encouraged to have lemonade stands during the summer months to raise money for local homeless shelters. Winter holiday concerts have coat drives. Choirs raise money for children’s hospitals or go and sing for them. These children are taught to look beyond themselves and their community by fundraisers and service projects of all kinds, creating good young musicians as well as good young people in the process.

Church and Synagogue choirs lead worship by their music making. But often they go beyond their once or twice-a-week singing together to reach out to the community at large. They sing for community gatherings or partner with others for 9-11 remembrance services. They sing for Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day and Fourth of July and community Thanksgivings. They sing for those in nursing homes during holidays and reach out to the home-bound. Church Choirs and Synagogue Choirs serve meals for the homeless, gather toiletries for women’s shelters and raise money for projects in their own worship community. To sing in a Church Choir or Synagogue Choir is much more than “just” leading worship.

There are times when the text and music and messages we sing go further than we intend them to. We reach those in pain, physical as well as spiritual, by speaking to that pain and soothing gently. We calm those in turmoil, comfort the mourning and clarify a concept to those confused by war or death or illness or conflict. Without realizing that by simply singing, we often calm and comfort and clarify ourselves as well.

Community members could learn a lot from each other by singing together. When we flippantly say groups of people in conflict have come together to sing “Kumbaya,” we actually are speaking of a very real phenomenon. Originally the song was associated with human and spiritual unity, closeness and compassion. The metaphor of a group singing “Kumbaya” together has become a cynical catch-phrase but we could take it back to its true meaning; a coming together, despite differences, to sing (or do) something to foster understanding. Perhaps a little less cynicism might go a long way to create a more understanding and compassionate world.

There are many ways for us to use our music for good, our music for healing and peace-making. What ways do YOU use music for good?

Our series wraps up next Thursday with a bit of advice from ChoralNet readers; The “Know-It-All” in Your Life.

Choral Potpourri/ Choral Ethics: Knowing When To Call It Quits

October 11, 2018 by Marie Grass Amenta Leave a Comment

“People don’t slip. Time catches up with them.” Nat King Cole

No one looks forward to leaving our profession or to having to tell someone they should leave. It’s a tough time everyone will face, sooner or later; we all just hope it will be much later. Today’s Choral Ethics Blog will look at three different situations where leaving the choral profession has been an issue. Naomi*, Eddie* and Jessie* all have had to look, really look, at the kindest most ethical way to handle things.

Naomi has directed a wonderful church choir for about fifteen years. To say it’s been a “dream job” is an understatement. The person who has helped her most is Nancy Jo*, her choir’s president. When Naomi went into labor during a choir practice, Nancy Jo drove her to the hospital and called her husband. For Staff Appreciation Sunday, Nancy Jo makes sure Naomi is remember by her favorite flowers and a small and “perfect” gift. Music is filed, choir robes are cleaned and the Sunshine Fund always has money in it due to Nancy Jo’s diligence.

Unfortunately, in the last few years, Nancy Jo’s voice has been deteriorating. Nancy Jo has a wobble and a vibrato so wide, its three pitches. Naomi has gotten complaints about the choir’s sound lately, with comments about them “not being as good as they used to be.” She knows why but didn’t feel she should say anything and was not sure what to do.

I suggested she to speak to clergy; church choirs tend to be volunteers, with any and all who would like to sing, hypothetically, being welcomed. He told her to ask Nancy Jo what she would like to do, and so Naomi did. Nancy Jo has realized, due to some recent health problems, her voice wasn’t the same. Both decided, together, Nancy Jo would continue as choir president and occasionally sing anthems she loves but anything new, she would sit out. Not a perfect solution but a kind, and ethical, solution.

Eddie was the accompanist for a community chorus. The director, Andrew*, had been failing for at least a year. He couldn’t remember the page they were on or what Eddie’s name was. He was indignant when the chorus kept asking the page or measure number, after he “thought” he had told them. He often seemed confused where he was or who he was (there were times he thought he was singing, not directing). It was so sad and Eddie covered for him more and more.

Finally, Eddie approached the president of the board, but she would have none of it. Eventho it was obvious there was something terribly wrong with Andrew, she did not want to embarrass him by calling his abilities into question. Eddie wanted to speak with Andrew personally but fate took that option away from him; last spring, Andrew had a debilitating stroke. Now in rehab, Andrew is making progress but it’s slow.

Eddie contacted me earlier this fall to ask what he should have done. I told him I thought his instincts were spot on about approaching him, personally. My only other thought was, instead of speaking with the president of the board, he should have spoken with Andrew first. I also told him I admired him for wanting to spare Andrew any embarrassment. Life happens and this is one of those cases no one could have anticipated.

Jessie wants to quit his church job. He’s tired of the congregation and his choir. They have had a series of interims while the congregation shops around for the “perfect pastor.” As a result, no one is minding the store. Things fall between the cracks, and if those things have anything to do with the choir or Jessie’s playing, he is blamed. They no longer have a regular church secretary, so even if he gets his hymn and anthem selections in in a timely fashion, they often don’t show up in Sunday’s bulletin and he’s the fall guy.

Eddie feels his congregation has unrealistic views of what is best for them, so the interims keep coming and the transition is getting longer and longer. When there was confusion about his vacation (he asked for permission from whichever interim was there at the time he made plans, arranged for a substitute AND made sure the correct music and hymns were turned in to whoever was doing the bulletins for that week) and he was scolded, that was it.

When asked what he should do, I told him to look for another position. I understand his point of view, because until they get their act together, it will continue to be a mess and it will be draining. But I also told him to not leave, if he can help it, until after Advent and Christmas. To leave them in the lurch before the holidays would reflect badly on HIM and could cause him problems later on.

Our series continues next Thursday with a little bit of hope; Using Music For Good.

*Name Withheld

Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: When Times Are Tough

October 4, 2018 by Marie Grass Amenta Leave a Comment

“Tough times don’t last, tough people do, remember?” Gregory Peck

This week we begin a series for the month of October called “When Times are Tough.” I like doing series because I am able to expand on our theme and need not get everything I think is important together in one post. As always, I thought about doing this series during the summer, but the actual theme and thrust didn’t come to me until the beginning of September. Often during Choral Ethics series, you contact me with ideas or make a comment which enhances that theme. Please add your comments today; we need all the help we can get!

Today we will deal in generalities and later in the series; we will get to specific situations having to do with us in our own profession. But today, it’s about our choirs and students. Things are tough in our country right now. It doesn’t matter what you believe or who you believe, all of us, even choral directors, are having a tough time.

Many of you direct choirs of young people or direct choirs in places of worship. You worry the news is affecting your students or the latest investigation about clergy misbehavior is causing a crisis of faith among your choir members. Many of you teach on the college and university level and are just as worried about your students. You wonder how you can help and often, you are just as upset as your singers. Do you plow on with what you have to do? Do you take time to address and comfort? Do you pretend everything is normal? Do you have group heart-to-hearts? Do you continue to sing?

The answer to all of these questions is yes. Yes, you plow through. Yes, you take time to comfort. Yes, you pretend everything is normal if you have to for a bit. Yes, you have group heart-to-hearts. Yes, you show your human-side. Yes, you believe. Yes, you are kind and patient. And yes, you sing. Singing together heals, as we all know, and can help heal our hearts. We all need to be healed right now, so SING!

Trust your instincts for what is best for your choir at the time and place where you are. If your district or academic institution has guidelines in place for these tough times, follow them. If your worship community has addressed these issues, speak with your clergy about the ways your congregation chooses to implement them.

As I searched for my epigraph for today’s Blog post, I found a quote attributed to Gregory Peck. I think it’s perfect for today’s piece and for the whole series. Remember, when all is said and done, we will get through this because tough times don’t last. We will overcome because we are tough, deep down inside, and tougher than the adversities thrown at us. We only need to believe we are.

Next week we will discuss a tough time no one looks forward to; Knowing When To Call It Quits.