For the first time ever in my professional career (that’s almost six decades!), I am working in a parish which will formally recognize the efforts of its choir. In this week’s parish newsletter at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, The Rev. Paul Lillie wrote:

… at the High Mass Aloha Hour there will be a reception in honor of the choir’s ministry. The choir works very hard throughout the year. They practice every Thursday night for over two hours, and they sing every Sunday and for most high holy days. Members must also practice their music on their own time. We are grateful for their dedication to the liturgies, and after this Sunday they will take a short summer break, before commencing their work at the end of July for another year. We must also express our thanks to Mike Dupre, our choirmaster, and Kathy Crosier, our organist. Both put in exceptional hours planning and practicing their craft. While the choir is taking a break, you will see many of them worshipping in the pews on Sundays, while the music at the masses is led by a cantor.

What a great vote of confidence!

I know that I moan and groan about the amount of work this church job requires, but I truly appreciate these words of support! After all, how many organists can say that their rector is a member of the American Guild of Organists?! In fact, Father Paul studied organ in college and served on the Executive Board of the local chapter of the AGO for several years. And he wrote a letter of recommendation for my application to the Association of Anglican Musicians.

Except for a period from 2013-2023, I have had a midweek choir rehearsal commitment nearly my whole life — ever since I took my first church job at age 15 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Burbank, California. I remember when our former business partner, Peter R. Hallock, used to have people in his choir say “I have a previous commitment” when invited to an alternative activity on Thursday nights. Heavens, that’s unthinkable!

I have to admit when I retired from the Lutheran Church of Honolulu at the end of 2012, I felt a tremendous sense of relief at finally having Thursday nights free — and I didn’t feel the least bit guilty about staying home and watching TV.

As for Father Lillie’s comment about rehearsals lasting past two hours, I cannot remember when I got home before 10:00 pm on Thursday nights — so our rehearsals typically last almost three hours! But no wonder — with the choir preparing a full choral mass every Sunday, in addition to the propers, the psalm, anthems and at least 5 hymns every service.

Last night was our last choir rehearsal of the season and rehearsals won’t resume until the end of July. Rather than just practice music for the last Sunday of the choir season, we spent part of the rehearsal sightreading “fun” pieces which choir members had brought which would never be used in the solemn liturgies at St. Mark’s. This caused me to sightread and transcribe some piano accompaniments to the organ (there is no piano in the choir loft at St. Mark’s.) A little out of my comfort zone but all in good fun!

So — what will I be doing the choir break?

I can’t believe that my trip to San Francisco is just about a week away, and I will be in a city with more than a thousand organists at the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists. And just a couple of weeks later, my friend Bill Potter and I will be taking off for Stockholm, the first stop of a “Highlights of Scandinavia” tour with GoAhead Tours. Other places we’re going to visit include Uppsala in Sweden; Bergen, Voss, Gudvangen and Flåm in Norway; and Copenhagen in Denmark. At the end of the tour we’ll visit Cambridge in England, then proceed to the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester.

We’re exploring possibilities of visiting organs in Stockholm and already have tickets for an organ recital by Sigurd M. Øgaard at the Bergen International Organ Festival. I learned that Mr. Øgaard spent 13 years in Texas!