Did you know that with Prelude Music Planner, you’re able to instantly preview and download hymns and service music from Evangelical Lutheran Worship at no extra cost beyond your $79 annual subscription rate?*

The whirlwind of fall music season is upon us, with first rehearsals and Rally Sundays complete, new faces and familiar, fresh music and routines returning after the summer away.

Ah, the youth choir: no longer children, not yet adults. The purgatory of musical ensembles, neither heaven nor hell…or is it?

Music clinics are rolling along (Clinic Information Here)--now is planning time for the choral year! We provide quick updates whenever we add something new to Prelude via our Fanfare announcements, and I can never cover all of the great pieces we're adding daily, but today I'll go a little more in-depth with some recommendations for your choral year programming.

Prelude contains music for a variety of special services, including patriotic tunes and national hymns and songs to celebrate Independence Day.

I know how Prelude Music Planner can save lots of time and trouble locating the right music for the right occasion. I’ve written about that previously. What I didn't dwell on then was quite literally how much MONEY Prelude can save you. Yes, real dollars to your music budget.

I'm the Prelude project manager who sifts through spreadsheets and sheet music in order to bring you the new material that keeps flowing into Prelude, both from Augsburg Fortress and our musical partner publishers. Many talented musicians have already contributed to this blog, and will do so in the future, and they are much better organists and choral directors than I could ever hope to be, but my special niche here will be give you content updates that go more in-depth than small front-page announcements. This gives me a chance to share specific recommendations from the recent batch that I hope you love as much as I do, things to bookmark for your planning this coming educational/liturgical year.

Today Augsburg Fortress honors Martin Seltz on his 20 year anniversary as an employee of Augsburg Fortress, serving as Publisher of Worship and Music. A highlight from today's celebration includes a musical tribute by colleague Robert Buckley Farlee.

In my years of working with choirs as singer, accompanist and director, I have noted that many of my colleagues, especially those who are trained primarily as organists, are reluctant to talk to their singers about purely vocal matters. We are much more comfortable with phrasing, dynamics, tempo, etc. When it comes to the actual sound that our choir members make, we are reluctant to intervene. Perhaps it is because we do not feel sufficiently trained as vocalists that cause us to hesitate. However, if I could suggest some demands that every choir director should make on every choir, perhaps some who have not been emboldened could start in the direction of talking comfortably with your singers about the tone that they make.