Planning and selecting music for a church choral program is a complex and time-consuming process. There are many factors that must be considered.
How Far in Advance?
Some church choir directors plan the choir’s music only one week in advance. This gives the greatest degree of flexibility in working with the rest of the worship team, allowing last-minute changes as the plans for a particular worship service evolve. But it also puts stress on the choir, since they have only one rehearsal to learn entire pieces of music.
I prefer to have three rehearsals for an average piece of choral music. The choir has more of a chance to “live” with the pieces, and there is more variety in rehearsals. That means I need to plan the choir’s music at least a month in advance. At Edwards Church, I actually plan in three- to four-month chunks: September through Christmas, January through Easter, and Easter through June.
Worship Planning
The first step is a long-term worship planning meeting with the other ministers. We discuss the upcoming liturgical seasons and plan special services or church-wide celebrations. We also consult the lectionary and decide on which scripture passages to focus on for each week. Armed with this information, I begin searching for appropriate music.
Searching, Searching…
My first search is the church’s music library. Edwards Church is lucky to have a large and diverse music library. One of my projects several years ago was to compile a database of the library, including searchable information for instrumentation, liturgical season, and scriptural references. I also consult the Choral Public Domain Library, an online database of public domain works available for free download, and J.W. Pepper, a large commercial retailer of choral music. My searches will usually yield a hefty pile of potential pieces.
Old vs. New
One major consideration in selecting choral music is balancing the old and the new. We have lots of anthems that are particular favorites of the congregation or the choir, and some of these are programmed every year. But I also want to challenge the choir with new pieces, some of which might become new favorites. If I need to purchase new pieces, I have to keep an eye on the amount of money that has been budgeted for sheet music for the year.
Solos vs. Anthems
At Edwards Church, each of the choir section leaders sings two solos during the church year. These solos take the place of a choral anthem, so scheduling is important. I will often schedule an especially difficult anthem on the same Sunday as a solo so that the choir can put more of their time and concentration into it. When a big Sunday like Easter or the Festival of Lessons and Carols is coming up, I schedule solos for several weeks consecutively.
The End Result
Despite the many challenges of planning choral music, it’s a task that I greatly enjoy. Ideally the end result is a varied array of music that will be both musically satisfying and spiritually uplifting.