the new job - so far, so good!

So, PT suggested I post here about how the first week in the new job has gone.

So far, things seem ok. There does seem to be more “bureaucracy” in the new parish, probably just as a consequence of the much larger size compared to my old one. I am supposed to be getting a nice new desk, and I could have gotten a nice Clavinova in the office or something, but really, I don’t need that, so I just got a $200 Yamaha keyboard.

The choir at the new parish has a lot of potential - there are several good readers in there, at least one in each section. The tone can use some work - but, how many volunteer church choirs can’t use work on their tone? Anyway, it’s up to about 30 singers now - we have gotten some new members now that the choir again has a regular director (me!). The new church building will, I believe, have seating for 60 or so. I honestly am not sure that will be enough; I would hate to have to turn some people away, though, or to have more than one parish choir just because the space does not allow for there to be only one.

There is also a children’s choir, which I am going to be taking over eventually, to some extent at least. I am kinda excited about this - I generally work well with kids; they seem to take to my sometimes-kooky demeanor.

Choral repertoire is generally limited to offertories, but this is fine for the time being. Hopefully I can get some choral communion music eventually, occasionally at least, since Communion takes quite a long time here. (One of those times when you wonder, what would happen if EMHCs were really as rare in practice as the documents say they are supposed to be?)

Anthems/offertories: This past Sunday was Hopson “Sing Praise to the Lord”. Ash Wednesday will be Attwood “Turn Thy face from my sins”. 1st Lent will be the Lotti Miserere (from cpdl.org), and 2nd Lent will be Farrant “Hide not Thou Thy face”. Palm Sunday will be the Carlo Rossini setting of the proper offertory (Ps. 69:21-2, IIRC). Other days are a bit up in the air - actually, it’s all up in the air at this point, as I am still figuring out what the choir can and can’t do every well. There are some who don’t read music, so I can’t go “hee-haw” on polyphony just yet.