thecchhoristerorister RESOURCESthe FOR MUSIC MINISTRY RESOURCES FOR MUSIC MINISTRY august | september 2013 volume 65 | issue 2 august | september 2014 volume 66 | issue 2 Envisioning Your Choir Program LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH PRAISE THE LORD! PLUSPLUS: + Speaking the Words Top 10 Children’s Anthems Shape Up by AliceANTHEM Parker FEATURE basedTAKE FIVE! on Hymns INSTRUMENTS and Folk TunesBRIDGING THEYour MUSICAL Rehearsal! GAP “GO DOWN, MOSES” IN CHOIR THROUGH CHILDREN’S CHOIRS 2015 Dallas Church Music Workshop January 16-17, 2015 Lovers Lane United Methodist Church, Dallas, Texas Create Imagine Inspire Robert Edwin Adult Choirs Kimberly Bracken Long Worship Tom Trenney Organ and Adult Choirs Jason Krug Handbells Janeal Krehbiel And Children’s Choirs Elizabeth Shepley More! Children’s Choirs Ellen Cavendish Phillips Liturgical Arts in Worship For classes, schedules, bios and registration visit DallasChapterCG.com Early Registration Begins August 1! Contents 3 From the Editor thechorister RESOURCES FORaugust MUSIC | september MINISTRY 2014 4 From the Sacred Choral Editor june/july 2013 5 From Choristers Guild Board member Michael Jothen 6 In Memoriam: Ronald Nelson and Henry McDowell 8 Reproducible Puzzle 9 Bridging the Musical Gap: A Little Child Shall Lead Them by Dr. Frances Sinclair & Kirsten Foyles MEMBER AREA LOG IN choristersguild.org 19 Anthem Lesson Plan: Go Down Moses Looking for your Member Area Log arr. by Thomas Keesecker In? Click Member Log-In, Forgot Password, and type in your email 21 Growing in Grace Preview address. You will receive an email 25 Preschool Pages with everything you need. by Nan Grantham 28 Take Five! 5 Questions Regarding the Use of Instruments in Children’s Choirs GET CONNECTED by Carol James There’s a lot to like about Choristers The Institute Corner Guild on the web. Our Facebook 32 page is a place to connect with 33 Ambassadors Program other members, share ideas and get info on special offers and new The Choral Director 34 music. Like us at facebook.com/ as Voice Teacher: A Three Step Approach ChoristersGuild by Dr. Karen Tillotson Bauer 38 Calendar of Events 39 New Members 40 Devotionals by Betsy Henderson Cover Photo Credit: Children’s Percussion Workshop, First Baptist Church, Carrollton, Georgia. Photo by Wanda Todd. 1 | thechorister | august/september 2014 Choristers Guild 12404 Park Central Drive Suite 100 Dallas, TX 75251-1802 thechorister 800.246.7478 RESOURCESThe Chorister is published bimonthly. FOR Choristers MUSIC Guild is a nonprofit,MINISTRY religious 469.398.3611 (fax) june/julyand educational 2013 corporation chartered under the laws of the State of Tennessee. choristersguild.org Choristers DAVID HEIN RUTH KREHBIEL JACOBS Guild Staff Sheboygan, WI Founder 1949–1960 BETH BROWN SHUGART Board of JIM RINDELAUB Johns Creek, GA Executive Director Directors MADELINE BRIDGES KATHY LOWRIE Nashville, TN HEATHER POTTER Handbell Music Editor President JOHN WITVLIET Charlotte, NC KATIE HOUTS Grand Rapids, MI Sacred Choral Editor TERI LARSON ANTON ARMSTRONG President-Elect MARY LYNN LIGHTFOOT Northfield, MN School Choral Editor Maple Grove, MN BETTY BEDSOLE JUDY BRITTS LIANN HARRIS Jackson, TN Distribution and Office Manager Past-President MICHAEL JOTHEN Folsom, CA ELLEN YOST Phoenix, MD Marketing Manager JOANN SAYLORS C. MICHAEL HAWN Secretary-Treasurer EVE HEHN Dallas, TX San Antonio, TX Membership Coordinator, Conference Registrar, Permissions LARRY K. BALL OSCAR PAGE and Licensing Administrator Santa Ana, CA Sherman, TX KAROL KIMMELL AND JOHN D. HORMAN SARA POWELL CHRIS NEMEC Kensington, MD Hartwell, GA Choristers Guild JOHN T. BURKE TERRY GOOLSBY Institute Directors Sonoma, CA Dallas, TX SUSAN EERNISSE MICHAEL JOTHEN The Chorister Editor Past Executive Phoenix, MD Directors ADRIENNE SIMMONS Please consider joining Controller C. MICHAEL HAWN Interim 2002–2003 those that have included AMY CRUZ Choristers Guild in their Administrative Assistant and JAMES STEEL Shipping/Sales Clerk 2000–2002 will or other estate plans: Larry K. Ball PATRICK JONES, WALTER GEORGE EISON CHEN AND KENT JIN 1999 Judy and Larry Britts Office/Shipping Assistants John Burke PATTY EVANS Advertising 1987–1998 Rev. Richard F. Collman [email protected] or Judith E. Dardaganian JOHN BURKE (469) 398-3606, ext. 227 1978–1986 Norman and Ethel Geist The Chorister Design Terry and Pam Goolsby CECIL LAPO Mara Dawn Dockery C. Michael Hawn 1972–1978 Joanna E. Pretz-Anderson Past Board JOHN S. C. KEMP Rudolph A. Ramseth 1968–1972 Presidents Jim and Stephanie Rindelaub JUDY BRITTS F. LEE WHITTLESEY Mary Louise and Don VanDyke 1963–1967 Folsom, CA Priscilla B. Zimmermann RANDY ENGLE A. LESLIE JACOBS Troy, MI 1960–1963 Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without permission, unless otherwise indicated. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return and safety of artwork, photographs, or materials. Acceptance of advertising or rental of mailing list does not imply endorsement. 2 | thechorister | august/september 2014 From the Editor Happy New Year! But it’s August, not January. Everyone in the field of education whether academic or religious, thinks of August as the time to gear up for a new year. Of course, that includes all aspects of music ministry: children’s choirs, handbell teams, church orchestras, and more. Final decisions on fall music selections are made, choir rooms are reorganized and decorated, and promotional materials are delivered to all concerned. There may be a big kick-off event, or Welcome Back party. There is so much preparation involved, but do we as church musicians adequately prepare our hearts and minds for leading others? In many churches those last few weekends before school starts are typically marked by low attendance at Sunday worship services. Everyone seems to try to squeeze in one last vacation trip, or a hurriedly planned trip to visit neglected relatives. The trip may begin something like this: “Get in the car, we are leaving now!” “Move over, you’re in my seat!” “Stop arguing, we are on vacation...and we are going to have fun!” “Don’t make me stop this car!” And that is just what the adults have to say to each other. Can you say, “Someone really needs a vacation?” As I think of that scenario, I am reminded of similar scenes played out on stress-filled Sunday mornings when our children were still living at home. “It’s time to go! Now!” “We are going to be late!” “Stop arguing! We are going to church…to worship!” That may be somewhat humorous, but less so when you consider that the two grownups in the car were both church musicians, and were responsible for leading others in worship. One thing to remember is that all the activities of the week are going to take place one way or another. How we experience those events will be determined by our personal attitudes, our mindset. Perhaps we should literally schedule times during the week for spiritual, mental, and emotional breathing, and then make those times top priorities. Your breath control may include Bible study, prayer, silent meditation, reading inspirational materials—anything that puts you in a better place, and provides renewal and refreshment. So go ahead, get out your smart phone, tablet, or weekly agenda. Go to the calendar, and enter those events. SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS! Happy New Year! I would love to have more photos of your groups to share in The Chorister! Please Keep singing the song! submit your high resolution photos to: -Susan [email protected] P.S. If you are looking for additional resources for teaching good vocal techniques, check out author Karen Bauer’s article on page 34. Karen has a great new book called The Essentials of Beautiful Singing: A Three Step Kinesthetic Approach, published by Scarecrow Press. Another excellent new resource by Matthew Hoch is called A Dictionary for the Modern Singer, published by Rowman and Littlefield. Look for an article by Matthew in The Chorister sometime in 2015. 3 | thechorister | august/september 2014 From the Sacred Choral Editor Things Children’s Choir Directors TOP 10 Might Be Doing Right Now 10. Finding last year’s choir folders, only to discover you forgot to file last year’s music. 9. Posting this on your Facebook wall: Choir starts in three weeks!! #soexcited #cantwait 8. Answering 23 emails from parents regarding these questions: a) When does choir begin? b) Can my daughter come late because of soccer? and c) My son really wants to sing in choir, but isn’t sure he wants to do it if he’s the only boy, so I was just checking to see how many other boys are singing this year. ? 7. Smelling your beautiful stacks of new music. 6. Realizing although you’ve picked your repertoire, you have no rehearsal plans. (Check out pages 19-20 for great teaching ideas for CGA1368 Go Down, Moses.) 5. Convincing your colleagues that scheduling the children’s choir to sing on the Sunday following Thanksgiving is just not a good idea. 4. Praying for your choir kids. 3. Posting this on your Facebook wall: Choir starts in three weeks?!?! #somuchtodo #needmorehoursintheday 2. Reviewing your budget, and instead of purchasing 30 sets of rhythm sticks for $74.24, buying 100 pairs of disposable chopsticks for $7.86. .With free shipping! (Check out pages 28-31 for ideas on incorporating instruments into your rehearsals.) 1. Smiling. Because you really do have the best job in the entire world. Best wishes for a fantastic choir year! -Katie 4 | thechorister | august/september 2014 BOARD MEMBER REFLECTION: JOIN ME IN SUPPORTING CHORISTERS GUILD BY MICHAEL JOTHEN Since my earliest awareness of Choristers Guild, I have more and more come to value and appreciate the role and importance it plays in “sparking” one’s imagination. My initial perception was that of an organization whose membership, publications, writings, clinics, workshops, festivals, and staff served to enable accomplishing the practical, everyday responsibilities and expectations of a young part-time church musician, i.e.