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Spending Out Your 2020 Music Budget? Here Are the 23 Choral Anthems I Bought This Year.

Last week I “spent out” the sheet music budget for the music ministry program I direct. Most of the music won’t be used until we’re worshipping in-person again. so I consider this purchase an act of hope for a future filled with in-person music making! That said though, I’m planning to do virtual choir anthems …

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The 20 Postludes I’m Learning This Year (Plus a Few More for Good Measure!)

For 2020, I decided that a fun personal challenge would be learning 20 new-to-me postludes. Of course, three months and five pieces into the challenge, life got upended by the pandemic, so I think this will end up being a challenge for 2020 and 2021. Regardless, I sure am enjoying learning all this new rep! …

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16 Sacred Choral Music Finds (Plus 2 for Violin and Organ)

Last summer, I spent 10 hours driving from St. Louis to Chicago and back. To pass the time, I skimmed through a stack of CDs from E. C. Schirmer, ECS Publishing Group, and Morningstar. Whenever something caught my ear, I wrote down the track number. And now, a year later, here’s the list! Sixteen choral …

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A Fun New Way to Find Organ Rep

For the past few months I’ve had a new project up my sleeve, and now I get to share it with you! Organ Media Foundation just launched a new Youtube show, Your Sunday Service, and I’m one of the hosts. Each episode features a new piece of easy or intermediate music that’s suitable for church …

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Image description: photograph of man and woman facing away from the camera, arms around each other's shoulders as if comforting each other

Top Hymns for Funerals and Memorial Services

We are blessed with a wealth of hymns that are suitable for funerals and memorial services. As you select music for your loved one’s funeral – or as you help a family choose music for a service – it can be helpful to see a list of hymns to select from. This post gathers together …

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Image description: stained glass windows in a large church building.

9 Benedictions My Choir Is Singing This Year

Does your choir sing a Benediction every week? Mine does during the program year, although it’s called a “Benediction Response,” since it comes immediately after the pastoral Benediction. It’s been surprisingly challenging to find pieces that work for my choir, since the pieces must be a cappella, as well as relatively short and easy. For …

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10 Introits My Choir Is Singing This Year

Does your choir sing introits? My choir sings one almost every week during the program year, and I love how they can highlight a service theme and set the mood. Plus, they’re a great way to teach new congregational hymns. What is an introit? In the broader sense, it’s a short choral piece sung at …

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Image description: double rainbow in blue sky with one puffy white cloud. For the blog post 4 Hymns I'm Programing for Pride Month

4 Hymns I’m Programming for Pride Month

In honor of Pride Month, here are the congregational songs of extravagant and affirming welcome that I’m programming at my church. The congregation knows these songs already because I’ve been introducing them throughout the past year. So singing them them all this month isn’t a drive-by acknowledgement of Pride Month, but an extra emphasis on …

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Image description: a sheet music collection of sacred choral anthems by women composers, including Emma Lou Diemer, Sarah Quartel, Abbie Betinis, Rosephanye Powell, Martha Shaffer, Susan LaBarr, Eleanor Daley, Jane Marshall, Alice Parker, and Elaine Hagenburg. For the blog post: 19 Anthems by Women Composers My Choir Sang This Season on sarah-bereza.com

20 Anthems by Women Composers that My Church Choir Sang This Season

This program year, the church choir I direct sang 19 different pieces by women composers. At the beginning of the season, I made an intentional effort to program music by women composers every Sunday. I didn’t have 100% success but between the choral, organ and other instrumental music, I’m happy to report we had music …

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Image is photograph of a white background and a woman's eyes and forehead in the foreground. She has a cross marked in ashes on her forehead. Used on the blog post "All My Lenten Musical Resources in One Place" on sarah-bereza.com

All My Lenten Musical Resources, in One Place

It’s that time of year! If you’re looking for Lenten musical resources, here’s a roundup of what I have on my site: