Worship

Family Singers: Intergenerational UU Choir

Agnes Paulsen, Director
UUCT (Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson)
Tucson, AZ

It was twelve years ago when the Religious Education Director asked me if I would start a children's choir. The first Sunday four reluctant boys showed up. They really weren't interested in singing, had been forced to come by their parents, and even though I almost stood on my head to get them involved, it just didn't happen. I realized quickly this was not working. Then the thought came to me that since ours is a "commuter" church, the solution might be to have the parents involved. So that's how the idea of Family Singers was borne. From small beginnings, we now have over 60 enrolled. Parents come with their children and we have really become an extended family. It may surprise you that we even have a two-year-old who comes regularly with her mother and who loves music and sings. She is attentive during the entire hour of rehearsal when we gather each Sunday morning during the school year and sing from 9:00 until 10:00. A couple of our families have a 40-minute drive!

You may wonder what kinds of songs we sing. Variety would be the best adjective -- variety in difficulty as well. For each rehearsal we sing numbers ranging from easy and fun for the younger children to a challenge for the young adults and parents. We often use drums and instrumental accompaniment and have even had two of our talented ballet members choreograph a dance to do while we sang. Several dads are in our group and one of our boy middle schoolers, whose voice has just changed, now sings with the tenors. Sometimes we sing single line melodies, other times 2-part, and sometimes 4 parts. Several of the children are taking piano or instrumental lessons so read music well. The younger children catch on quickly and memorize even more quickly.

We sing once or twice a month for the Sunday morning service and always on Christmas Eve. We've also sung at three memorial services. Last April we sang at the Sunday morning worship of the Pacific Southwest District Conference. Standing on rented risers wearing our specially designed Family Singers T-shirts made us feel and sound like a real choral group. Then on September 22nd we journeyed by chartered bus (52 of us) to Phoenix (110 miles) where we sang four selections at the Sunday morning worship service of the Paradise Valley UU Church. Would you believe they gave us a standing ovation at the end of the service?

Every Sunday we have a time for sharing and honoring birthdays, and we occasionally have one of the children play a musical number for us. This really helps us bond. Several of our members have become leaders in the RE program and two of them are presently serving on the Church Board. In August we started out the season by enjoying a potluck/swimming party hosted by one of our families. My aim as director is to make singing fun. And I have fun directing them.