From Our Readers

Kenyan Choral Music, A Recent Historical Perspective

July 30, 2018 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The following is written by Dale Rieth,
_________

With all of the recent attention to the International Conductor’s Exchange Program and specifically this year’s pipeline to Kenya, I wanted to share an historical perspective from my own Kenyan research in the 1990’s. In fact, this article might serve as a “prequel” to today’s musical developments in Kenya and offer an additional perspective by partially filling in the backstory.

Musical Research in Kenya

Musical research in Kenya is a comparatively new phenomenon. My 1995 doctoral thesis, A Study of Choral Music in Kenya: The Contributions of Its Composers and the Influences of Traditional and Western European Musical Styles , was researched in Kenya under the auspices of a Fulbright Fellowship. My goal was to research developments in contemporary Kenyan choral music and observe the synthesis of traditional musical styles with Western European compositional processes. My source material was gathered from the composers themselves, and I compiled their stories via questionnaires as well as gathering examples of their choral compositions. 12 composers were interviewed, and their practical approach to their compositional craft and the writing of music for performance in schools, churches, and festivals, is what has kept their art flourishing.

Their willingness to share their musical and cultural philosophy as well as their music was inspiring, contributing directly to the international community of choral musicians. These materials were submitted for my doctoral thesis at the University of Cincinnati. As I now look back, it is unfortunate that there hasn’t been much additional research. It appears that my paper was one of the first dissertations put on file at the Kenya Information Preservation Society (founded in 1990), which, as their title suggests, is devoted to preserving the cultural heritage of their nation. The handful of dissertations also on file focus upon specific case studies of acculturation, copyright, text setting, and a history of music/dance competition. However, there still exists a great need for systematic collection and archiving of the myriad of Kenyan traditional music which admittedly would be an immense undertaking and require coordination by the Kenyan Government.

As a choral musician, I was based in Nairobi where I found the musical scene to be highly energized. A particularly fertile landscape was that of the Kenya National Music Festival, attended by musical groups from throughout the country. A logical starting point for this article is to summarize conclusions I had drawn in 1995 about the status of contemporary choral music in Kenya as well as share questions I had posed at the time regarding the future of the choral arts in Kenya.

Research Conclusions

It was determined in 1995 that five distinct genres were being explored by Kenyan choral composers. Still, the emphasis upon composer training in Kenya has produced a music education system skewed toward Western European influence (as established by British music educators in the 20^th century period of colonialism). However, Kenyan composers have adapted quite readily to syncretic genres (utilization of cross-cultural influences) realizing this may be the only hope for their compositional survival. For that matter, Kenya has traditionally be open to new ideas, since “Kenya’s strategic location as a migratory pathway has encouraged the process of acceptance and assimilation of cultural traits from outside groups”.¹

Traditional musical elements continue to figure prominently in contemporary compositions and although there continues to be traditional categories of music included in the presentations of the annual Kenya Music Festival, Kenyan choral art music (with its traditional elements) is still not included in the National Music Education curriculum. A key ingredient would be the inclusion of Kenyan choral art music as a formal musical genre at the Kenya Music Festival. Despite the composers’ embrace of syncretic musical styles, there is a very real danger that Kenya’s indigenous music will be lost by acculturation.

Of special interest is a doctoral dissertation by Duncan Wambugu. In this document, Dr. Wambugu underscores the importance of inclusion of a music curriculum in the Kenyan National Educational System and specifically, the use of traditional music genres in academic study and performance. In fact, the incorporation of traditional musical genres could be deemed essential to the health of the nation as music in Kenya is inseparable from life events. Music is attached to all of life, from birth to rites of passage (adulthood) to death, from planting to harvesting, from times of war to times of peace. Choral music continues to be ubiquitous in Kenyan society with the formation and continued participation of choral groups in branches of government, private enterprise, music clubs and organizations, churches and other religious organizations, and of course schools.

The Future

Most obvious is the need for a systematic and standardized approach to preservation and analysis of Kenyan choral music. An ideal project for the future would be the initiation of a “Kenyan National Songbook” in the same manner as the “African Textbook Project” envisioned in 1969 by the International Library of African Music (Roodepoort, South Africa): “Under the ILAM’s supervision, research teams in the field were to initiate and record audio and video performances of music and dance, transfer the recordings to a processing team for transcription and analysis, and publish and archive the results. Ultimately an anthology was to be distributed to all participants.”² With or without such a document, the process of recording, transcribing, cataloging, and archiving of indigenous music (the result of field research as well as witnessing performances at the Kenya Music Festival) would prove very fruitful for the composers of Kenyan and to musical life in general. Duncan Wambugu also argues for a universal format which would be practical and accessible on a global scale, concluding that, “(Kenyan choral) Art music would therefore be an ideal platform”.³

The Kenyan musical scene is energized and continues to display an attitude of optimism. There is progress in the quantity and quality of musical organizations and performance level, and as Kenyan composers continue to rely on their musical instincts, their output will continue to reflect the depth of their cultural heritage, and their music will truly speak of Africa.

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In my intention to turn this subject into an open forum for choral musicians, I welcome submissions to these sample questions for those who have visited Kenya in their quest to learn more:

What were you seeking to discover in your travels to Kenya?
Did your original mission statement transform upon arrival in the country?
Were you able to accomplish your original objectives?
Did you encounter barriers to research-gathering?
Did you find your local contacts to be supportive of your work?
In what way did you apply the results of your research upon your return home?
Do you have any future plans to continue your research?

These and more specific inquiries would appear to be useful in charting a future course for research of Kenyan choral music.

* * *
¹Dale Rieth, A Study of Choral Music in Kenya: The Contributions of Its Composers and the Influences of Traditional and Western European Musical Styles (Doctoral thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1997): 87.
²Ibid., 162.
³Duncan Wambugu, Kenyan Art Music in Kenya’s High School General Music Curriculum: A Rationale for Folk-Song Based Choral Music (Doctoral dissertation, University of Florida, 2012): 131.

Reviving the Music of Ernst Bacon (1898-1990)

January 22, 2018 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

*The following article was written by Ernst’s wife, Ellen Bacon.

In the mid-20th century, American composer Ernst Bacon (1898-1990) was well known. His Symphony in D Minor was awarded a Pulitzer Scholarship in 1932. In the ’30s, he was appointed head of the WPA Federal Music Project in San Francisco and founded the Carmel Bach Festival. In that decade he also composed half of his total output of 67 Emily Dickinson art-songs, a genre in which he was a pioneer. Ernest Bloch wrote: “Your songs seem to me the true and delicate expression of a very fine sensibility which has found its subtle medium – there is no doubt that you are a born song-writer.”

Born in Chicago of an Austrian mother and MidWestern father, Bacon is something of an American Schubert. Besides about 250 art songs, he composed orchestral, chamber, and choral works, along with a few operas and ballets. In 1946 Virgil Thomson, reviewing an all-Bacon vocal and chamber music concert in Times Hall, called him “one of America’s best composers.” Included on this program were a half dozen of his Appalachian folk song settings for unison and SA chorus and his cantata for women’s voices (SSAA), From Emily’s Diary. A later cantata for women’s voices, Nature, is also based on Emily Dickinson poems.

Besides many lively and spirited SATB pieces, published by Lawson-Gould, Peer International, Belwin-Mills, Shawnee Press, Rongwen, Summy-Birchard, Edward B. Marks, Theodore Presser, and Mercury Music, Bacon composed dozens of SA pieces, many published and many still in manuscript. Some of these were written for the San Francisco Boys Chorus, which was founded and for 25 years conducted by Ernst’s sister, Madi Bacon.

Much of Ernst Bacon’s music, however, is in danger of being lost and forgotten. His fertile imagination kept him busy composing ever-new works, taking little time to promote the existing ones. His preference for living in hilly areas – where he enjoyed long, mostly solitary walks – kept him away from New York City, where most of the major careers of his generation were secured. And most of all, the tyranny of the musical avant-garde in the last 4 decades of his life drove him underground. Ignored as an outcast for being a melodist whose sophisticated harmonies were not atonal, he pursued his own path of imagination and integrity in relative isolation.

Since Bacon’s death, a revival of his music has been under way, slowly but steadily. Bacon’s choral music, however, has not yet been revived and needs to be rescued from near oblivion. With the Walt Whitman bicentennial coming up in 2019, this would be a good time to perform his short oratorio (46 minutes), By Blue Ontario, written to various Whitman texts. This stirring and quintessentially American piece was composed and premiered at Syracuse University in 1958 and then performed again in 1969 (at the time of the Whitman sesquicentennial) by the MIT Choral Society and Orchestra. (View a live recording of that performance here.) Other pieces on this Whitman-themed program included Vaughan Williams’ On the beach at night alone, Holst’s Dirge for Two Veterans, and Delius’s Songs of Farewell, Nos. 2,, 3, and 5. A recent work that would also be a good companion piece is Jeffrey Van’s powerful and moving A Procession Winding around Me (four Civil War poems for mixed chorus and guitar).

Following are some excerpts of writings by Ernst Bacon about the influence of language on musical style, especially pertaining to Walt Whitman.

“I have long been of the opinion that poetry is the basis of musical melody: and that many of the greatest changes in musical style have resulted from the need to give musical expression to types of language, whether poetry or drama, hitherto unused… A new music arose from the introduction of the German language into the Protestant church service. The Italian theatre, when it introduced song, produced something unique in music… To the native musical writer of today, poetry, English and American, could be the simplest and most reliable guide to an indigenous style. Its meters and its subject matter would decide the geometry of its melody, its curves and cadences, its pace and the cast of its forms. You can’t write fifty songs to Whitman and still sound like a Frenchman. You can’t do a cycle of Emily Dickinson in the manner of Hugo Wolf.”

“Whitman revealed himself to me with his all-embracing sympathy and generosity, his Biblical eloquence, his poetic geography and love of place, his respect for the commonplace, and his vast faith in democracy…….’Whitman,’ Alfred North Whitehead said, ‘seems to me to have been one of the few very great poets that ever lived. Much of what he says is so new that he even had to invent a form for saying it.’ A composer approaching this grand prophet feels no fear. His greatest concern is that he may not achieve sounds worthy of Whitman’s great lines.”

“Worthy does not mean equal to, but respectful of, and in tune with. Great poetry may invite music, but seldom needs it. It is rare when a composer measures up to the greatest of poets: as Schubert did with Goethe in some songs; or as Verdi did with Shakespeare in Othello; or Moussorgsky in Boris. Most great songs and music dramas look to lesser texts; for it is natural for the music to take first place, and it is no less unnatural and improper that music should stand before poetry greater than itself.”

“However, a composer sometimes sets the greatest poetry to music as a form of tribute. And it is in this spirit that I have dared to choose Walt Whitman’s lines for my new work for chorus and orchestra, By Blue Ontario.”
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Visit The Ernst Bacon Society for more resources, including videos, reviews, music clips, and photographs.

5 ACDA Members Are Semifinalists for Music Educator Award™ Grammy!

December 25, 2016 by ACDA Leave a Comment

Rich Kirby, the GRAMMY Foundation

The GRAMMY Foundation ® and The Recording Academy ® have just announced 25 semi-finalists for the 2017 Music Educator Award™, and we are delighted to note that 5 ACDA members are among them!

The Music Educator Award was established to recognize current educators (kindergarten through college, public, and private schools) who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in schools. A joint partnership and presentation of The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation, the recipient will be honored during GRAMMY® Week 2017.

The ACDA members with a shot to be named Music Educator Award are:

Erica Breitbarth, Choir Director, Musical Theater Director and Chair of the Music Department at Reagan International Baccalaureate School in the Milwaukee Public Schools. She has also worked with BuildaBridge International in Philadelphia to develop a comprehensive teaching model for artists working with at-risk students in the United States and around the world.

David Dehner, Director of Vocal Arts Monte Vista Christian School, Choral Director Coastal Community Choir and Compass Church Celebration Choir, and President of San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Keith Hancock, who is in his fifteenth year teaching choral music, all at Tesoro High School in California, where he directs over 250 students in five curricular and four extra-curricular ensembles, and runs the Music Production/Audio Engineering program.

Pamela E. McClain, who is the Parkersburg High School Choral Director in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and has been teaching in the public school system for 31 years. She currently teaches piano classes, voice class, Freshman Choir, Chamber Choir, A Cappella Choir and a Men’s and Women’s Ensemble. Ms. McClain also holds the position of Director of Music Ministries at the Emmanuel Baptist Church of Parkersburg, West Virginia, where she conducts the Chancel Choir.

Dr. Richard Nickerson, who has been Director of Choral Activities at Windham High School in Windham, Maine, for the past 29 years. Richard is also Minister of Music at North Windham Union Church.

The winner of the Music Educator Award will be flown to the host city of the GRAMMY Awards® to be recognized during GRAMMY Week 2017. The recipient will also attend the 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards ceremony and a range of GRAMMY Foundation events. The nine additional finalists will receive a $1,000 personal grant, and the schools of all 10 finalists will receive matching grants. Additionally, 15 semifinalists will receive a $500 personal grant with matching school grants for the first time in the award's history.

The ACDA supports the GRAMMY Foundation's Music Educator Award program and encourages all our members to enter their name – or nominate a colleague – for consideration for the 2018 award. The entry form and more information may be found at www.grammymusicteacher.com.

The finalists will be announced in December. Good luck to Erica, David, Keith, Pamela and Richard!

Reflections on a Lifetime of Music Making – Peter Tiboris

December 18, 2016 by From Our Readers Leave a Comment

I began looking back on my 60-plus years of music study and performance, which began in 1952 when I first took piano lessons from Mrs. Meyer at age 5, and then, two years later, when I became church organist at the St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in Sheboygan, Wisconsin (my father, a dentist, was the choir director). Why I began this exercise on this subject, I am not sure. What, after all, did I learn over a lifetime of thinking about, studying, preparing, and performing music?

I began writing down these “essentials” of my music world, which began in that Lake Michigan town and continued at the University of Wisconsin and later at the University of Illinois. For the next 10 years, I taught music at a piano studio and at public middle and high school, junior college, and university levels – all of which contributed to my decision in 1983 to move to NYC and create MidAmerica Productions and MidAm International; the move was prompted by my desire to find greater diversity and challenges than I had previously experienced.

Now, after 35 years in New York City and a thousand-plus concerts in NYC and worldwide as a conductor and presenter, I am writing about what I have learned as I have grown and evolved as a musician and conductor. Here are some of my thoughts…

KNOW THYSELF. Attributed to Socrates and inscribed on the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, Greece.Why is music important? Why is one a musician? Why did I feel this was the only road I wanted to take in my professional life?
BEFORE YOU CONDUCT, HAVE THE ENTIRE SCORE “IN YOUR EAR.” Know in advance what you are expecting to hear. You cannot rehearse or perform any work unless you “own it” prior to the first gesture.

UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES FOR A GREAT WORK OF MUSIC.I learned that there are six important and critical aesthetic factors and they are: Unity, Complexity, Intensity, Proportion, Blend, and Balance (all attributed to American aesthetician Monroe Beardsley, 1915-1985). When these notions work together, there is a deep, unforgettable and satisfying feeling. A composer attempts to achieve these in a composition and a conductor attempts to bring these characteristics to light through his artists. This was the most important idea I learned while at the University of Illinois.

CHOOSE MUSIC TO PERFORM THAT IS WORTHY OF YOUR PRECIOUS TIME.

CONDUCT YOUR MUSIC, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, FROM MEMORY. Doing so will free up your hearing. Looking at a score while you conduct cuts down dramatically on what you are hearing. As the great conductor Herbert von Karajan said, “There is nothing to look at except your performers, so listen with your eyes.”

LEARN THE BASICS OF LATIN, ITALIAN,GERMAN AND FRENCH. The vast majority of the most important western vocal music is in these four languages.

LEAD YOUR MUSIC PERFORMANCES, BUT LET THE COMPOSITION DICTATE YOUR GESTURES.

LEARN TO CONDUCT BY WATCHING AND LISTENING TO OTHER CONDUCTORS. I recommend familiarizing yourself with the Berlin Philharmonic’s digital concerts live, in archives and interviews. This became, for me, an invaluable tutoring source for all repertoire provided by the great orchestra and all their guest conductors going back to the 1930s. I highly recommend viewing, on YouTube, “The Art of Conducting:Great Conductors of the Past.”

DON’T OVER CONDUCT. Let the artists sing. Let them play. Conductors make no sound, but they can make music. Make gestures when you need to guide the interpretation, create the drama, and mold the tender moments.

EVERY TIME ONE CONDUCTS, IT IS AN AUDITION.

KNOW THE “FORM” OF THE WORK YOU ARE CONDUCTING. Form dictates everything and is dictated by the composer. The composer’s intentions are central to understanding and conveying a performance.

Finally, there is no greater collaboration between conductor and ensemble than when the performers WANT to perform for you. When that happens, there is no limit as to what the conductor can ask of his or her performers and magic is possible.

Peter Tiboris is the founder and general director of MidAmerica Productions, Inc. Venice, Italy
http://petertiboris.com/

For Singers: Don’t Relax, Worry

December 10, 2016 by From Our Readers Leave a Comment

“If you’re nervous, that means you care and you want to give your best.” – Adriana Lima

Whether you’ve been singing since Beethoven figured out which end of the pen the ink went on or this is your first performance ever, concert night can (will) bring on the nerves. It’s natural; for months, you’ve been singing in a room with your friends feeling safe and secure and now you’re going to be standing up in front of hundreds of people in a great big room where everything is different. Yikes! Here are some of the things that you are CERTAIN are happening, but I promise, none of them are true (the nervous brain has a whole bag of dirty tricks to play):

– Everyone in the audience is looking directly at YOU.
– Every time you miss a note, even a little, everyone in the audience will hear it.
– Your voice has never sounded worse and you KNOW that if you sing loud it will sound like a mule that just got stung by a bee.
– There can’t possibly be enough oxygen in the room for everyone and you’re NOT getting YOUR SHARE.
– Everybody else looks calm and cool and collected and NOBODY ELSE IS NERVOUS and can’t they see what’s going on?
– You look down at your music and it feels like you’ve never sung that song before. Ever.

You’ll also notice that the lights are too bright, the audience looks fuzzy, your knees are a little rubbery, and there’s a really irritating drop of sweat making an agonizingly slow journey down the middle of your back. If you’re a really skittish person, you may feel like running into a dark corner and curling up into a fetal position; if you’re not, you’re still going to be mad at yourself for being such a wuss.

Well congratulations, you are officially a normal human being. I’ve been singing and directing in front of people for over 40 years and still get a minor case of the willies before every performance. Just like you (and everybody else), my hypothalamus tells my adrenal gland to wake up and get busy. The heart rate and respiration bump up a notch (which doesn’t help matters at all, really) and perceptions sharpen. Everything looks and sounds just a little funky (which also doesn’t help matters at all).

So here’s the good news: you were just handed a magic bullet to make this performance epic. Adrenaline makes you into a super-you and if you direct that superness (is that a word?), your nerves become a tool for good things to happen. So how do you do that?

– Narrow your focus on the conductor. She or he is your guide and you’ll feed on each other’s strength (if you don’t think she/he can see that energy in you, think again). Trust her/him to be that guide.
– Return that focus back to yourself from time to time. Find that calm, educated, well-prepared singer inside you and say hello.
– Control your breath. If nerves have cranked it up, turn it back down. You don’t really need all that extra air. Try taking a slow, deep breath and let it out gently. Relax your shoulders and your neck (you didn’t even notice they were clenched, did you?). Do a quick inventory and relax anything else that is unnecessarily tightened up (hint…your okole). (Note: for the non-Hawaiians out there, the okole is the part of your anatomy you sit on…)
– News flash: adrenaline is really fun. Why do you think people go bungee jumping? I launched myself into the air from 250’ up once with that big ol’ rubber band on my feet and the buzz lasted for three days. You just got a rocket booster, so use it. Direct that energy into focus, use that focus to concentrate on your singing, the quality of the dynamics, all of the nuances that your conductor has been teaching you. Harness that nervous energy. You’ll find it brings power. It will also help to bring on the one big thing:
– SMILE! Nobody knows if your smile is because you’re seconds away from screaming and running in circles or because you’re really happy. You can fool yourself into sliding over into the happy side of the house by showing some teeth.

Finally, some things to remember:

– Yes, you do know your music. Relax. When that first note rolls out of your throat you’ll slide right into that familiar place. That’s why you rehearse.
– Be aware of the people around you. You’ve been together for months, you’re more than a choir. You’re surrounded by friends with the same mission and you’re ALL cranked up a notch. Allow that umbrella of love and support to cover you along with them and sing as one voice.
– Guess what…the audience WANTS you to be awesome. They’re here to be entertained and moved and have given you the gift of their precious time. They’ll never notice a wrong note, they usually don’t know what the right ones are.
– Guess what…the audience is another magic bullet. Their energy is fun, too. Watch their faces as they applaud; smile and acknowledge them. You’ll find yourself feeding off their enjoyment and THAT is really cool.

After the last note fades you’ll feel all that tension slide to the floor, leaving a nice little endorphin buzz and an overall feeling of calm and happiness. You may even find yourself shedding an emotional tear. You’ll be surrounded by friends and family and smiling people you’ve never met, all of them thanking you for the gift you gave them.

The concert experience is where we all truly share in the joy of Music.

__________________________

Briggs Christie is a member and blogger for the Windward Choral Society in Kailua, O’ahu, HI. You can find the original post or more writings by Briggs here.

The Four Functions of a Church Choir

November 27, 2016 by From Our Readers 4 Comments

Since starting at my current church, the choir has rallied behind four “functions” of a church choir and has been central in helping the church become what song-enliveners affectionately call a “singing congregation.” As the director of a church choir I use four functions to explain why the church choir exists. Those priorities help determine the programmatic choices that our music ministry makes. The functions are in a specific priority order, but I also believe each function is equally important as they must be present to have a vital music ministry. The four functions are to lead and enliven the congregation’s song, to sing music that the congregation cannot, to serve as a small-group within the church for faith formation, and to sing beautiful and challenging music to glorify God and to edify the congregation.

1. The church choir leads and enlivens the congregation’s song

This may come as a surprise to some readers that the first and most important function of the church choir is to lead the congregation’s song. It is important, however, that this be the top priority. Let’s not forget that without a congregation, there could not be a church choir! The singing group would instead be a community choir. But why is it important that the congregation’s song be supported instead of just focusing on the church choir’s musical success? Choral musicians inherently know the answer. We become what we sing. When we take words and put them to music, it becomes part of who we are. Therefore, it becomes imperative that we put as much of the Word into the bodies of the congregation as possible. If the congregation can sing it but we don’t let them, we miss an opportunity to transform people’s lives in the most direct way possible. By giving the congregation new singing skills and confidence, we empower them for the rest of their lives to better embody God’s word through music.

Therefore, taking our cue from the great church musician John Ferguson, it is important to view the congregation as the “big choir,” and the church choir as the “little choir,” or as I like to think of it, my chamber group. I often utilize my choir as “section leaders,” positioning them around the congregation strategically to support the parts that I’m teaching for a congregational hymn or song. I have the choir stand in front of the congregation to lead them in rounds and canons. They become active leaders in building up the congregation’s song. By doing this, the congregation is prepared for discipleship through the soul-embracing power of song.

2. The church choir sings music that the congregation cannot

Let’s be real. There’s lots of great music that needs to be sung that just cannot reasonably be done by a congregation. Whether it’s too complex to be done by untrained musicians, or just too difficult to be done without extensive rehearsal, there’s a lot of music that cannot or should not be done by a congregation. That’s why this function is number two on the list. There are some texts set to challenging music that congregations need to hear, whether it’s because it is comforting in times of crises, praising in times of joy, or inspiring in times of apathy. By spending the time and effort to rehearse each week, the choir provides a great service to the congregation by opening up the amount of literature the congregation can be exposed to. Used appropriately, this has significant theological and musical implications, broadening the congregation’s experience of the divine.

3. The church choir serves as a small-group within the church for faith formation

I imagine that we all have stories about our choral groups taking care of each other or holding someone up in a time of need. When we sing together, a bond is created that unites us unlike any other activity. In a church setting, this function can be intentionally formed and nurtured. Because we meet together once a week to do work for the glory of God and benefit of neighbor, taking care of each other is no longer an option, it’s a responsibility. As the leader of this small-group, a church choir director’s job is no longer limited to musical direction, but also spiritual direction. This doesn’t mean you’re responsible for giving a sermon each week or listening to people’s confessions, but it does mean that you are charged with ensuring your group enacts the Word you sing week in and week out. A great example of this is the familiar Latin text “Ubi Caritas,” something that most church choirs have sung at one time or another:

“Where charity and love are, God is there. Christ’s love has gathered us into one. Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him. Let us fear, and let us love the living God. And may we love each other with a sincere heart.”

Because we sing this text often as a biblical witness to the congregation, I expect my singers to treat each other with “charity and love.” I expect them to act like “Christ’s love has gathered us into one.” What I find is that my expectations are almost always met because the majority of my singers have been singing their faith for decades and have already been formed by the church’s song. I also always hold myself to the same standard, striving to be an example of showing love and charity while seeking musical excellence. By expecting myself and my choir to act out what we sing, the choir naturally takes care of each other. I rarely have to ask for food to be brought or people to be prayed for because before I can bring it up someone from the group has already asked for it to be done by their fellow choir members. It’s a witness that is refreshing to see each and every year I direct.

4. The church choir sings beautiful and challenging music to praise God and edify the congregation

The music that we create should be beautiful and challenging. This is where the majority of our rehearsal time is taken up, because singing challenging music beautifully is difficult to do and takes lots of practice. It is important that when we sing we sing beautifully, because it touches people’s souls. The reason that we work so hard to create beautiful music together is so that we can glorify God and help people experience a holy moment. On the opposite end of the spectrum, it is important that our singing is not distracting and therefore prevent people from having a holy moment. I find that one of the best motivations for my choir when rehearsal is getting into the nitty-gritty, is to say something like, “This is a moment where we can touch someone and help them have a moment with God.” Reminding the choir that by changing these little musical details can make the difference in someone’s spiritual life goes a long way to power through tough rehearsal moments. It is important, however, that the first three priorities in this article are not forgotten when digging deeper and deeper into the rehearsal process to try and achieve our most beautiful sounds. A church choir’s job is not just to sing beautifully, but rather it is to minister to the congregation and to each other in a variety of ways, helping to change the world into a more loving and peaceful place.

By taking these four functions and letting them guide your program’s decision making, you ensure that the choir serves as a conduit of faith for both your congregation and choir members. By telling your choristers that this is what and why they do what they do, it gives them a framework to express the importance of the church choir and be an advocate for music ministry. Most importantly, I hope that these four functions can enliven your congregation’s singing through the faithful discipleship of your church choir members.

______________

Brian Hehn is Director of Music Ministry for Arapaho United Methodist Church in Richardson, TX, and serves on the Executive Board of The Hymn Society of the United States and Canada.