I love church choral music, so you would think that I would love selecting music for my choir -- but I don't. There are situations that exist that make it an extremely frustrating and tiresome process for me. Here are some of the issues I have to consider when I choose my church choir music:
- The wealth of church choir music available. You would think that having a lot of music from which to choose would make it an easier process. That's not the case -- not for me, anyway. There is so much available that there is no way that I can look at each piece, and I am worried that I will pass up a really good one. My retailer has a list of the most popular pieces in their catalog. However, that's only the top 10. They also have an Editor's Choice selection, which is helpful. I still worry about not finding that hidden gem.
- My taste and my church choir's taste isn't always the same. Have you ever experienced this situation -- when you absolutely love a piece and your choir hates it? This doesn't happen very often in my choir, but it does happen occasionally. If my choir dislikes a piece, and the song doesn't have any significance to the worship year, then I will usually return it. It's not worth it to fight the battle to prepare it when the singers don't like it.
- Once-a-week rehearsals. As with most church choirs, my group rehearses once a week and then sings in two Sunday services each week. Although we sing the same anthem in both services, having to learn a new piece each week is a difficult task. It is my task to make sure that they are prepared. That isn't always an easy task.
- Rehearsal time management. I try and work on four different pieces at each choir rehearsal. I introduce a new one, get them further along on two others, and then finesse the piece that is to be sung that Sunday. Unlike some directors, I do not like to repeat an anthem during the year in which it is sung. In fact, I usually like to let at least two years pass before we repeat a song. If we are working on a cantata, it is difficult to maintain this four-anthem-per-week rehearsal. During those times, I try to pick some easy anthems that won't take too long to prepare.
- It's a volunteer choir. My church is not a huge one -- we have between 150 and 200 people weekly in our two services. I have around 20 people in my choir right now, which is a decent number of singers to have. However, I hardly ever have that many in the choir loft on a Sunday morning. Most of my singers are busy people, and they often have conflicts that arise on a Sunday morning. Because they don't get paid to be there, they often elect to skip church and do whatever else is on their schedule. As a director, it's a frustrating fact with which to deal, but it's a realistic one.
- Singers leaving the church. We went through a pastoral change three or four years ago, and we are still suffering the fallout from it. As people become more and more dissatisfied with the services, they elect to leave the church. While they love the church choir, it is not enough to keep them there. Another problem I face is that half of my church choir are retired people, and as they age, they often decide that it is time to give up choir. While I try and tell them that they will never be too old to sing, many of them have sung in the choir for a long time, and they just don't want to do it anymore.
- Recruiting? What's that? As the population of the choir drops, we make continual pleas for new people to join us. Unfortunately, we don't usually have much luck. Our church is not growing; in fact, we are shrinking a little each year as people leave. The people who have been attending for years aren't interested in singing in the choir. If they were, they would have already joined. Since we don't get many new people, the chances of us growing are slim to none.
- General interest in church choirs is dying. Praise teams are the thing to do nowadays. Churches with contemporary services all use them, and because they play the type of music that most people are used to hearing, they hold great interest for their congregations. Everyone wants to be a rock star, and getting to hold a microphone and sing pop-like songs makes you feel like one.
- What type of music do I choose? SATB? SAB? Two-part mixed? My library is full of SATB music, but there are times when all four parts are not covered, especially at rehearsals. We have rehearsed with no basses. We have rehearsed with no tenors. While most of the time my singers are pretty good about letting me know they won't be there, there are times when something comes up at the last minute or someone gets sick, and we're left hanging. If we come to a Sunday morning and one of our parts isn't covered, what do I do? I simply make the decision not to sing. I go to my organist and ask them to play a piece during the offertory. We have two excellent organists at our church, so most of the time it isn't a problem. They can at least pull out a hymn and play it.
- Staying enthusiastic, even when there are problems. As the director of the choir, I feel it is my responsibility to stay enthusiastic and motivated, even when problems arise. My choir is an intelligent group of people, so they know when they don't sound good. There are times that I leave the Wednesday-night rehearsal wondering how we will ever be ready to sing the anthem on Sunday morning. When we start the pre-service rehearsal on Sunday morning, I pray to God that we will be able to pull it off. Fortunately, God is good, and we have always managed to give a decent, if not excellent, performance.
