A Pilgrim's Place: INSPIRING

This week I am writing about three wonderful days at “Inspiring Worship: The Third Annual University of Florida Sacred Music Workshop.” It started off with a bang-up carillon recital by Dr. Laura Ellis. It amazes me that a great big, heavy carillon can be played with such virtuosity.

Then there was a splendid concert by the Orlando Deanery Boychoir and Girls Choir. I really miss directing a children’s choir, but that is years and years in my past. In those good old days there were churches that had three or more children’s choirs. That is gone. Nowadays you hear groups called “youth choirs” that sing over a CD and haven’t got a clue about how to sing. But these Orlando choirs were a world apart from that. Terrific!

Next day started our learning. Claire Hodge was particularly noteworthy in talking about voice production. (She directs the Girls Choir). I wish I would have known about her a few years ago. She would be the perfect vocal coach for training some of the young people I have known locally. She emphasizes the need to concentrate on technique, which is what I would do if I were still teaching. Learning a lot of repertoire is useless if you don’t have the technique to perform it.

Next I chose a choral reading session which was led by graduate student Alyssa Rodgers (who has a marvelous voice). I like going through new choral music. I wouldn’t know what’s being done with out these sorts of things. After that I fumbled my way through Music Technology Class. In my day musical technology meant piano tuning or learning to fix broken clarinets. Not anymore. It’s all about computers. Part of time we learned about making computer slides for lyrics. If you’ve read my earlier blog http://a-pilgrims-place.blogspot.com/2010/02/let-us-sing-powerpoint-slide-2567.html you know I don’t think much about doing this. Then we learned a bit about Finale, a program for writing music. It certainly is easier to use than Noteworthy Composer, but it costs an arm and a leg. Given that no one ever performs anything I write, it’s hardly worth my spending money to buy the more costly program.

That night was Hymn Festival arranged by David Cherwien. Dr. Cherwien played the magnificent organ (and occasionally piano) and directed a choir put together for the occasion. (Thank you UofF students for sticking around to sing.) What I love about these festivals is that they show what could be done with hymn and congregational song with some imagination. I really wish I could have had a whole bunch of people I know present. It’s a thrilling experience. I think a lot of the push toward contemporary worship is a result of just plain dull traditional worship. It doesn’t have to be that way.

The next day Dr. Cherwien gave two presentations “Blended Styles: One Song” and “Sing through Choices” which were very helpful in clarifying some things I have been thinking of. I really think it has been a mistake to divide congregations by musical styles. We rob ourselves of forms of expression when we refuse to use the full musical riches that are available to us.

I didn’t stay for Dr. Ellis’s Organ Masterclass, though I am sure it was excellent, because my skills are so poor that I would need to have very basic instruction, like–this is a white key and this is a black key.

Anyway, thanks to Laura Ellis for organizing this workshop, thanks to Ayssa Rodgers for coordinating it, and thanks to the University of Florida hosting it.