A career in church music and ministry requires a variety of skills:

• Performance skills: playing for worship and accompanying choirs, instrumentalists, and congregational singing. It sometimes includes harmonizing melodies, improvising, transposing, and even composing some of your own service music from time to time.

• Leadership skills: choosing music that ties in with the rest of the service, perhaps selecting hymns each week, and leading the congregation in song.

• Educational skills: introducing a variety of musical styles into worship, teaching new hymns or songs to the congregation, and if you’re directing an ensemble, teaching music-reading, rhythm, technique, musical expression, and aural skills.

There’s a lot going on in the world these days and a lot to occupy our minds and hearts.

There are new rules (keep 6’ of distance from others), old rules (love your neighbor), and a running list of things to remember (first and foremost, what day is it?).

There are racial injustices and protests happening around the U.S., a global pandemic to worry about, and an upcoming election that has everyone picking sides (p.s. Are you registered to vote?)

What do we do with all this information?

Every year in my studio, we celebrate the end of the school year with a spring recital.

Each student prepares two pieces — sometimes memorized, sometimes with duets played by me or a parent or an older sibling or even a friend in the studio, and always with lots of supportive friends and family members in the audience.

This spring, like teachers around the world, I found myself suddenly immersed in the world of online teaching.

I knew that instead of gathering in person in the school theater on a Saturday morning in late May, we’d need to find another way to celebrate this year. We’d need to find a way to move the recital (like everything else in life) online.

A few weeks ago, I made the decision to keep my studio virtual this year.

Some schools are reopening here (with lots of precautions, staggered starts, alternating live and virtual days, etc.), including the school where I normally teach. I spent a lot of time this summer thinking about the in-person lesson experience and what that might look like:

I recently discovered a new docuseries called Dear…

Each episode features a well-known figure — Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, Aly Raisman, Jane Goodall, among others — and letters they’ve received from people changed or influenced by their work. The content of the letters is woven into a biographical narrative, providing greater insight into the main figure and the life they’ve led.

One of the people profiled is musician and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda, of Hamilton fame.

No one could have predicted what 2020 would look like. Who could have imagined the things church musicians around the world would find themselves doing this year?

• Figuring out how to teach music via Zoom

• Recording parts for home practice

• Creating a virtual choir video of some sort

• Navigating the world of online worship

• Marking 6 feet of distance with masking tape

• Reading research articles about aerosols and air ventilation

Several years ago, I put together a list of my Top 50 Favorite Anthems for Children’s Choir.

But there are so many wonderful anthems out there for children’s voices, who can stop at 50?!

You know I can’t.

So today, I’m sharing the sequel you’ve all been waiting for: 50 more favorite anthems for children’s choir.

This list includes mostly unison and two-part music, with a few 3-part pieces for those of you with older elementary choirs and/or larger groups.

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been compiling repertoire lists by Black composers for use in worship and sacred settings. So far, I’ve published lists of sacred organ music, 2- and 3-part sacred choral anthems, and SATB sacred choral anthems.

Today, I’m sharing Part 4 in this series: art songs & spirituals for solo voice.

This list includes familiar spirituals and new compositions by composers such as Harry T. Burleigh, Edward Boatner, Undine Smith Moore, Rosephanye Powell, Uzee Brown, Jr., H. Leslie Adams, Florence Price, and many more.

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost four months since the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the United States (along with the rest of the world). In its wake, we watched as everything shut down, plans were canceled, and everyone stayed home.

Now that things are opening again (with new safety protocols and limitations in place), many music directors are turning their attention to the fall: Will we be able to gather in person again? If so, what will that look like?

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been compiling repertoire lists by Black composers for use in worship and sacred settings. So far, I’ve published lists of sacred organ music and 2- and 3-part sacred choral anthems.

This week, I’m excited to share Part 3 in this series: 108 sacred choral anthems for SATB choir.

This repertoire list includes familiar spirituals as well as new compositions by Black composers in the 20th and 21st centuries. You’ll find 40 sacred octavos and links to three SATB collections for a total of over 100 anthems to use with your choir in the future.