Amid the many questions we ask ourselves as church choir directors, one of the biggest is repertoire-related: What should we sing and why? While a single blog post can’t address that question thoroughly, I’d like to provide a few simple reasons why—as we continually choose between the myriad anthems, canticles, and cantatas that cross our desks—we shouldn’t neglect the category of the hymn concertato.
Read More > >Hymn Concertati
Posted on Jan 21, 2013 10:05:19 AM by Zebulon Highben in Choral Techniques and Repertoire, in review-prelude
Jesus died for the church: you don't have to!
Posted on Jan 14, 2013 6:53:55 AM by John Allegar in Potpourri, in review-prelude
Jesus died for the Church...you don’t have to!
Read More > >Epiphany Singing
Posted on Jan 7, 2013 6:46:02 AM by Tim Getz in Assembly Song, in review-prelude
One church I served had an annual dinner and celebration for the feast of the Epiphany. It was my job to arrange for some kind of entertainment to take place at the party, but there was a year that Christmas came and went and I found myself completely unprepared for Epiphany. So I decided we’d have a sing-along. Before the event, I worried that it would float about as well as a lead balloon; people were used to REAL entertainment at these parties! I pulled out some caroling booklets from a dusty shelf in the office and loaded up a cart with hymnals, and prayed that no one would be too upset at my crazy, awful, boring idea. My trepidation continued as I started distributing hymnals at people’s tables after dinner to responses like “Oh, no!” and “What are we going to have to do?” But I soldiered ahead, announced my scheme, and waited for someone to call out a song. And wouldn’t you know… people loved it! Within a minute there were so many requests I couldn’t keep track of them all. We sang Christmas songs from the familiar (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing) to the long-forgotten (The Snow Lay on the Ground). Patriotic tunes were sung with gusto (Onward, Christian Soldiers and America the Beautiful) along with some of the secular Christmas songs (Frosty the Snowman)! Then there were those who asked, movingly, to sing songs that will be sung at their funerals (Love Divine, All Loves Excelling and Abide with Me). We sang for an hour and probably could have gone on an hour more. The next Sunday people were still talking about the fun they had. All in all, one of the more successful events we’d ever had!
Read More > >The Concert Band in Church
Posted on Dec 31, 2012 10:33:41 AM by Jeff Doebler in Instruments and Ensembles, in review-prelude
Part Two: Hymns
Read More > >The Concert Band in Church
Posted on Dec 24, 2012 7:00:55 AM by Jeff Doebler in Instruments and Ensembles, in review-prelude
Part One: Literature
Read More > >Change Ringing for an American Handbell Director
Posted on Dec 17, 2012 6:29:21 AM by Luke Tegtmeier in Instruments and Ensembles, in review-prelude
Part II: Practical teaching
Change Ringing for an American Handbell Director
Posted on Dec 10, 2012 7:39:06 AM by Luke Tegtmeier in Instruments and Ensembles, in review-prelude
Mannerisms and Bad Habits
Posted on Nov 26, 2012 7:23:45 AM by John Paulson in Choral Techniques and Repertoire, in review-prelude
The Sound of Silence
Posted on Nov 19, 2012 7:14:09 AM by Tim Getz in Assembly Song, in review-prelude
What Can We Leave Out: Liturgies With Too Many Extras
Posted on Nov 12, 2012 7:05:35 AM by Craig Mueller in Planning, in review-prelude
