The Choir

In the gentle precinct of Aldminster Cathedral, crisis loomed. The urbane and worldly Dean (Purdey guns and the regular arrival of a delivery van from Berry Brothers) wanted nothing so much as to restore and beautify his beloved Cathedral--even if it meant sacrificing the Choir School to pay for it. Alexander Troy, Headmaster of the school, a conscientious man, somewhat out of his depth with his elusive and poetical wife (once seen walking barefoot in the dew across the Cathedral Close) was determined that nothing and no-one-certainly not the overbearing Dean-should destroy the Choir. As the rift widened into Machiavellian dimensions, many others found themselves caught in the schism--Leo Beckford, brilliant but wayward organist, repelling the adoration of the Dean's dreadful daughter--the gentle, left-wing Bishop, trying to soothe the angry protagonists--Sally Ashworth, mother of the leading chorister, fighting loneliness and an erring and absent husband. Each frail and human dilemma took its part in the greater turmoil of Chapter and Close and the final battle for the survival of the Choir.

Preaching to the Choir imparts practical and pastoral wisdom to church musicians in their vocation as choir directors. This updated second edition attends to recent challenges choir directors have encountered and provides guidance as they look to the future.

(Meredith Music Resource). If we could sit down with some of the best choral conductors of our time, what might we learn? In this book, directors at Iowa State University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Penn State University, St. Olaf College, and University of Southern California are interviewed. The book shares these directors approaches to: recruitment, auditions, and singer placement in ensembles; selection auditions, and singer placement in ensembles; rehearsal planning; choral timbres and vocal pedagogy; intonation; kinesthetic learning and choreography; traditions and choral culture. Interviews with students and observations of live rehearsals complement these director interviews to provide readers with a comprehensive look at how these choral programs consistently achieve success.

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE New York Times bestselling author Carl Weber takes readers back to church—where preaching isn’t always enough . . . Bishop T.K. Wilson has done all he can to make First Jamaica Ministries a success. But with his last choir director getting caught in a scandal, attendance and cash flow are down. To fill the pews and collection plates, Bishop is counting on a new choir director, the charismatic Aaron Mackie, to revive the church. Aaron has been waiting his entire life to prove he has what it takes to be a big-time choir director. But his ways around women, past and present, could cost him more than his job. Soon, the Bishop is dealing with in-fighting, jealousies, and personal vendettas. But a final piece of the puzzle has yet to be revealed: Someone has been robbing the church blind. Someone whose connection to the Bishop is far too close for comfort . . . CATCH UP WITH BISHOP T.K. WILSON AND CHURCH MEMBERS IN THESE BOOKS So You Call Yourself a Man The First Lady Up to No Good The Choir Director

Sirota delves deeply into the reasons church musicians do their jobs in the face of poor pay and limited opportunities for advancement, offering the reader a pastoral understanding without avoiding the challenging questions that every church musician must consider. She has an uncanny ability to name that which lies at the heart of the sacred artist's craft. Addressed directly and conversationally to the working musician in church or synagogue and those with whom they work, Sirota explores issues that are well-chosen for their understanding of "insider's information" and sensibilities to art, beauty, scripture, and pastoral care. Her personal reflection is balanced with probing questions from someone who's "been there" and is well-known to multi-denominational church musicians, as a gifted preacher and writer, a scholar, and a professional performing artist.

They are back, that delightful bunch of folks from coastal North Carolina, in this, the last of the series of Beryls Cove mysteries. Steve and Suzanne Thomas are in their mountain retreat, when someone is killing the choir master and choir members of the local congregational church of Ridgeville. Because the first murder occurred in the Nest O Rest Lodge, just up the path from the Thomas home, naturally, our heroes are going to be involved. Steve's best friend, from Navy days is visiting his sisters lodge, and is called upon to help with the investigation, and add his own special insights and zaniness to the proceedings. When two more murder victims show up, the plot thickens, with a twist that sends the town reeling. Gregg and Steve need all the help they can get. When the hometown gang from the Cove show up for the 4th of July festivities, more adventure ensues when they end up stranded late at night on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Things are never quite settled, even when our two amateur sleuths return home, there is unfinished business and some shady dealings afoot! Come along for this final, raucous adventure with the two best amateur detectives the old North State ever saw. Laugh and cry along with the citizens of Beryls Cove, and of course, Elvis and that donut munching bulldog, Dawg are here to add their own special touch to the story.

Ruby considers everyone a suspect but not even she could have guessed that her trip through the Rockies would end with a body thrown from the train and a ride on the ski life from hell.

A first-of-its-kind history, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir tells the epic story of how an all-volunteer group founded by persecuted religious outcasts grew into a multimedia powerhouse synonymous with the mainstream and with Mormonism itself. Drawing on decades of work observing and researching the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Michael Hicks examines the personalities, decisions, and controversies that shaped "America's choir." Here is the miraculous story behind the Tabernacle's world-famous acoustics, the anti-Mormonism that greeted early tours, the clashes with Church leaders over repertoire and presentation, the radio-driven boom in popularity, the competing visions of rival conductors, and the Choir's aspiration to be accepted within classical music even as Mormons sought acceptance within American culture at large. Everything from Billboard hits to TV appearances to White House performances paved the way for Mormonism's crossover triumph. Yet, as Hicks shows, such success raised fundamental concerns regarding the Choir's mission, functions, and image.