by Jennifer Budziak | Mar 7, 2019 | Blog, Music, Music Directors
I only got to work with Joe Flummerfelt once, for one incredible 45-minute segment of one rehearsal on one ordinary day. He was visiting my teacher, who had been a student of his, at Northwestern University, and Dr. Nally had asked him to conduct a rehearsal of...
by Jennifer Budziak | Mar 1, 2019 | Blog, Music Directors
An interesting question came up last week on the Facebook “NPM Family” group (a lot of interesting questions come up on there—it’s a good place to be!). There was a lot of really thoughtful discussion on the topic, and it’s clear that it’s a topic many of us have...
by Jennifer Budziak | Jan 4, 2019 | Blog, Music Directors
Within the next few days, a new book will be going to press: Diana Kodner Gökçe, author of Handbook for Cantors, Third Edition and a good friend and colleague of many years, has written a short book called Why We Sing: A Musical Guide for Catholics, aimed at helping...
by Jennifer Budziak | Dec 6, 2018 | Blog, Cantors, Children's Choirs
Where does the next generation of cantors and music ministers come from, if not from the youngest singers now? An important part of a strong youth music program is keeping your children growing and challenged and eager to keep learning. It can be challenging for...
by Jennifer Budziak | Oct 24, 2018 | Blog, Children's Choirs, Music Directors
Maybe you see the children’s choir once a week, on a weekday after school. Maybe you are wrangling kids from two programs–the parish school kids next door have homework/break time for a while after school until the public school kids get out and can join...
by Jennifer Budziak | Sep 25, 2018 | Blog, Music Directors, Worship Space Acoustics
This second post on acoustics and music-making in churches features an article by the late Richard Proulx in the first-ever GIA Quarterly magazine issue. It eloquently (if somewhat cantankerously*) lays out the basic problems and solutions. (Spoiler: carpet is never...
