Concord UMC Music Notes
June 27th, 2018
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It's that time of year when I can catch a little bit of my breath. All of the spring concerts are over, Youth Choir tour is finished, and Annual Conference is behind me, and all the ensembles are on a summer rehearsal break until the first of August. Another part of my
annual tradition is to take part of this time and try to map out not just what I would like the groups to sing and play, but also to try and assess what's next for all of our music groups. I believe it's always good to be moving forward into new challenges. If we become too comfortable with what we do, we don't stay still, we actually begin to regress. So going into our summer break, here are some of my early thoughts about what each group can expect when we begin our new choir season in August.
- Chancel Choir - We will definitely be moving our rehearsal time to Tuesday nights at 6:30. I know this will feel very different for most of us, but as the last couple of Wednesday night rehearsals have shown me, a shortened Wednesday night rehearsal feels rushed. There's not a lot of time to polish and there's even less time to learn something new. Tuesday night will be our time. There will be little else going on around the church. We should have plenty of time to learn new material, sharpen our skills, and schedule regular fellowship times. I also would like to expand our usage in worship through the use of introits, calls to prayer, and the occasional "spotlight verse of a hymn." I also hope to partner with other musical groups in our music program like Choristers and Youth Choir. Christmas will be our usual epic presentation, but I haven't yet entirely decided what we will be singing. Finally, it's time to again think about increasing our numbers. We enjoyed an attendance bump when we switched to an earlier time, but we've sort of leveled out. We need to bring some new folks into our fold.
- Worship Choir - We find ourselves in a special circumstance. We have improved to the point that the congregation is used to quality music each Sunday. However, we are too small to have the type of flexibility in anthem selection that we need. Our
biggest goal for next year will be to build our numbers. If we can do that, we can
begin to have more options in terms of the music that we can successfully sing.
- Youth Choir - Next year will center around two primary goals: getting to England and getting into the community. Our group seems to thrive when we are presenting a concert for people. So, look for us to build on the concert program that we did on tour and expand it. I hope to make a return trip to Mustard Tree Ministry in Chattanooga, and maybe even returning to the place that we sang in Asheville. We may even try some after-school concerts at Wesley House. We will be doing some fun music, and I'm going to challenge you pretty hard to be an outstanding choir. I don't yet know when our rehearsals will be, but will let you know as soon as I can.
- Concord Bells - I would love to see us have our busiest year yet. I believe it's time to be more involved in worship and to begin putting together a concert program to take into the community. Who knows? We may even be able to put together a short tour. Of course we will be doing our spring concert, but will hopefully not let that take completely away from our participation in worship.
- Concord Men's Ensemble - There will be some new pieces, there will be some old pieces that we'll keep in high polish. This is such a fun group and such a well-received group that we also need to be out in the community. We have had some strong singers leave us this year for various reasons. We need to work hard to bring in some new folks and keep our numbers up. We'll continue to be a mostly-every-other-week rehearsing group. I will let you know as soon as possible if our rehearsal time changes.
- Other groups - These groups don't officially exist yet, but they should: a brand new handbell choir designed for beginning and intermediate ringers, including youth; a ladies ensembles modeled after the men's ensemble; a reformulated church orchestra; maybe even a gospel choir.
As you can see, there's a lot that I'd love to accomplish. We probably won't get to everything on the list, but it's certainly fun to dream about and maybe even start some concentrated planning. This is one of the most active and most special music ministries anywhere around, and the future continues to be bright. I hope everyone has a nice summer break from rehearsals, and we'll all get back to work in August.
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Chancel and Worship Choirs
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Chancel Choir - We will be having our final rehearsal before our summer break tonight. We'll meet in the choir room at 6:00, and will try to go over all the songs that we'll be singing on Sundays before our next rehearsal on August 7th.
Chancel Choir - Worship Choir could really use some soprano and alto help this summer, especially next Sunday, July 8th. If you could help out, not only would there be stars in your crown, but you would be eligible for the "sing early, leave early" plan. That means that if you sing with Worship Choir, you would be able to leave after the 11:00 anthem.
Worship Choir - Haley Retterer will be singing solo this Sunday, but we still need a presence in the choir loft. We'll gather at around 8:30 to robe and grab hymnals.
Chancel and Worship Choirs - As many of you know, Hannah Berkley is a member of the U.T. Chamber Choir. They are preparing for a concert tour of Ireland, and will be presenting a "farewell" tour this Thursday night, June 28th, at 8:00 p.m. This is a rare opportunity to hear this excellent choir, and also to wish Hannah luck in finding some leprechauns.
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- Chris and I are still working out the exact youth schedule for next year. Watch this space for information about the day and time of youth choir rehearsals.
- I received a call from Millie Tilson (long-time Concord member and former organist). She needs some landscaping help at her home, and is willing to contribute to the England fund on behalf of whoever wants to help her out. Whatever she contributes will be deducted from the cost of whoever works for her. If you are interested, please contact Mrs. Tilson at (865) 777-9550.
- Feel free to spread the news about next year's choir year. I would love to have friends, neighbors, and schoolmates be a part of the choir. Church membership isn't a requirement to sing with us. I would love for next year's choir to be one of our largest.
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Looking Ahead
Wednesday, June 27th
6:00 - Final Chancel Choir rehearsal before our July rehearsal break.
Sunday, July 1st
8:45 - Special Music - Haley Retterer
11:00 - Chancel Choir - "O Sing a New Song to the Lord"
Sunday, July 8th
8:45 - Worship Choir - TBA
11:00 - Chancel Choir - "There Is a Time"
Sunday, July 15th
8:45 - Worship Choir - TBA
11:00 - Chancel Choir - "And the Father Will Dance"
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Prayer Concerns and Celebrations
- Tami Bland's birthday is Sunday, July 1st.
- Andrea Schlomer's birthday is also on Sunday, July 1st.
- Clara Castleberry, Janie Hicks, and Olivia Schlomer all have birthdays on Monday, July 2nd.
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Mike Stallings
mike@concordumc.com
mikestallings@charter.net
(865) 966-6728 (o.)
(865) 719-3469 (c.)
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