Happy August, friends! As we inch closer to the fall and the start of a new Christian year, we are also gleefully approaching the return of regular choir involvement in Sunday services! Things may not look or sound just like they used to, but we are so ready to get back into action!
Here’s the deal: moving forward, we plan to regularly have three Sundays a month with group involvement. There will be one live, in-person choir piece each month and one virtual choir piece as well. Thursday evening rehearsals will pick back up again on September 1 at 7pm for in-person pieces with the option of some help or coaching on virtual pieces if anyone would like it.
We’ll also be introducing something new this year! On the third Sunday of each month, we’ll have a “pop-up choir” option. What does this mean? “Pop-up choir” will be an opportunity for any and all to participate in a song that we only rehearse and put together the morning of! These will be simply arranged and accessible songs that are either already very familiar or are easy to learn quickly. We’ll gather in the sanctuary at 9:30 and spend about 30 minutes learning the song and what few simple harmony parts there may be to be taught. This is an opportunity for those of you who like to sing but, for whatever reason, are not able to commit to Thursday night rehearsals! It’s also an opportunity to let our kids join in if they’d like to. We hope that this new experiment will be embraced with the boldness our community has shown in the past for trying something different, perhaps challenging artistically.
Of course, for now, we will remain masked for all rehearsals and during worship; it’s not ideal for anyone, but safety is our chief concern.
As for virtual choir participation, all you need is the ability to listen to a track in headphones on one device while recording onto another device. You can sing along to a track that highlights the part you want to sing, so you’ll always have a voice to lean on as you record. Then you’ll just put your recordings in a Google Drive and leave the rest to me! A survey of past choir members showed a preference for recording these without video, so we will just ask for a photo of anyone who participates. There will always be at least two full weeks with virtual songs available to practice at home and record at your leisure.
We are very excited for this next step in finding our new normal! Whether you join us regularly or are only able to participate once in a while, we hope that you — yes, even you who have never sung with a choir before! — will be a part of our music ministry as we move into a fresh start. If you have any questions or would like to have your name added to the choir info list, please email Jeff@. There will also be ongoing, updated materials linked in the weekly email bulletin for anyone who would like to participate.
Come and sing your heart out with us this year!
Jeff
