Building a Music Program Takes Vision, Time, Talent

Music feeds our souls and many of us wouldn't stay in our congregations without it, but to do it properly takes vision, time, and talent. Ten years ago, when Tom Benjamin, a choral director who had recently moved to the area, was asked to build a music program at the UU Congregation of Columbia, MD (285 members), he hesitated. Would a congregation that had depended on volunteers be willing to support a more ambitious endeavor?

When he decided to accept the challenge, he started slowly, selecting quality music and recruiting choir members. That first year, there was a small honorarium for salaries. The next year the money increased. The choir also grew and improved. Sometime after that he started a public concert series that attracted people to the church, including some who became guest musicians and choir members. The series also raises several thousand dollars annually for the music program.

He remembers the moment when he knew it was all going to work--that a quality, sustained music program would be possible. "It was after the first few rehearsals, when the outlines of a good choir started to emerge," he says. "That, and the first time the congregation voted money for music."

Bart Bradfield, director of music at the Unitarian Church of Evanston, IL (552), believes the key to a strong program is getting the congregation involved with music in as many ways as possible. He's held evening workshops on African drumming, and on using instruments such as marimbas and xylophones. He also leads his congregation in rounds to teach harmony. "It's important to the whole music program that people who have little music background have a variety of positive experiences," he says.

Other tips for a quality music program:

• Create a strong music committee to support  and promote the music program.
• Discourage applause except for children and very exceptional performances. Music should be part of worship, not a performance. "Sometimes it's better for people to just sit there and absorb what happened," says Bradfield. "Applause can diffuse that."
• Focus on the choir. "When you have a good choir and people can see that it's having fun, everyone wants to be part of it," says Lois Allen, former music director at First Unitarian Church, Oklahoma City (361).
• When teaching music to the congregation, choose a song leader without the best voice in the world. "No one wants to emulate perfection," says Allen.
• Keep a written record of "a week in the life of a music director" to demonstrate to the governing board and others what gets done.