Happy holidays, y’all! I’m taking off from blogging until the New Year. I’ll be spending time with family and enjoying a beautifully musical Christmas Eve! I hope you get some wonderful downtime in the next few weeks, especially if you are leading holiday services! See you in the new year!
Interviewer: “You realize this is a not a music director job and you are not the boss?” Me: “Yes. Thank you for pouring salt in the wounds of my underemployment. But actually, I would thrilled to move up the ladder from underemployment to marginally-better-underemployment.” Those weren’t the exact words. But that was the sentiment. I …
My colleagues and I at First Congregational wrote about the best books we read this year. If you’re looking for a new read for yourself or for a friend, check it out!
Daniel Kallman’s setting of “Lord of All Hopefulness” is the perfect easy anthem. It’s great for a small choir, for a summer choir,” for an “yikes! half my choir got snowed in!” choir. It’s the piece you want in your back-pocket just in case you have to cancel an anthem last minute, like I did …
Do you wish you prayed every morning? Or most mornings? Or at least, some mornings? For a long time, I didn’t pray in the morning. But then I realized I could sing prayers and everything clicked!
This week, I’m taking a break from blogging as I spend time with my family. I hope you have a lovely holiday and get to spend time with people you love. And I hope that, in the midst of a very busy season, you have time for gratitude. Both for the big things and for …
Do you want to learn new postlude music that you will enjoy and your congregation will love? Here’s my list of the best organ postludes, based on almost 20 years as a church musician. These pieces are: 2-5 minutes long faster/louder rather than softer/slower in the sweet spot between very difficult and too simple (and …
Join Monique M. Ingalls, Muriel Swijghuisen Reigersberg, and Zoe C. Sherinian in a conversation about their new edited collection: Making Congregational Music Local in Christian Communities Worldwide.
Dear Creatives and other people with flexible schedules: I used to work on a lot of different things every day. I would work on my podcast, and my music, and send emails and and and…all on the same day. Oh and that book that I was “writing”? Ha. Yeah, that never got my attention. But …
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Here’s what I want in an organ postlude: 3-4 minutes long faster/louder rather than softer/slower in the sweet spot between very difficult and too simple Maurice Duruflé’s Fugue sur le carillon des heures de la Cathédrale de Soissons (Op. 12) hits all those elements for me. I’ve played it dozens of times, especially in the …