In February 2021, the Editorial Resources Committee invited members to complete a brief survey to describe how they have adapted to the challenges of making music during the pandemic. Here are their responses, organized by question.
Question #1: How have you addressed the challenges to making music in the pandemic?
During the past year I had to record preludes and postludes for both pre-recorded and livestreamed traditional worship services. It was a bit unnerving!
—Charlene T. Cranmer, Central Florida chapter
I became organist at Calvary Methodist in Annapolis during the pandemic. Our music director has kept people singing in the choir! From September through Christmas, we had the choir split into two groups. One group of twelve singers came to rehearse and record at 6:30. The second group came at 7:40. They wore singers masks, and spread out in the sanctuary, which is quite large. One group would rehearse and record a choir anthem, and the other group would do one or two hymns. During January and February we have only had one small group of six singers come in each week, since the numbers of illnesses were worse. We will go back to having two larger groups in March. I have been rehearsing and recording preludes and postludes, which are included in the online worship services. Recording has been challenging for me. I would much prefer to just play for a service!
—Betsy Lord, Annapolis (Md.) chapter
I am practicing lots more as there are fewer services for me to play right now. We are livestreaming one service for which we pre-record all the music during the week prior. I record my own preludes/postludes using the Zoom Q8 Recorder, edit those and make them available to the church for inclusion in the livestreamed services. In our recording session for the hymns and liturgies, we have a select group of no more than 5 persons, including myself as organist/pianist, all socially distanced and masked. We have recorded several choral anthems with the choir outside in an open breezeway near our chapel with good success.
—Lars Andersen, Southern Arizona chapter
We have been livestreaming with no in-person worship since late last March. Given the age of our congregation, we will continue this practice for some time to come. Our church bought OneLicense which has helped. I also have a small group (5 people now!) who use an app (Acapella) to record hymns for Sunday worship and special music. My biggest challenge is changing the prelude to be only about 1 1/2 minutes while the pastor lights the candles. I have taken several AGO webinars as well.
—Christina Misner Rao, Portland (Maine) chapter
My instrumental group transferred its weekly rehearsals from our Community Clubhouse to a nearby park under an open pavilion.
–John Cecconi, Westchester County (N.Y.) and Blue Ridge (N.C.) chapters
We have moved from the Sanctuary into the gym for worship due to air flow concerns – so no organ playing. So sad! But I have put together some virtual quartets with the organ for hymn singing, so the congregation gets to hear it. Unfortunately, the lockdown has given the pastor more fuel for nixing the traditional service entirely—he’s a proponent of contemporary styles. He’s starting to talk about a different worship model when we are able to return to regular services in the Sanctuary. But I will fight for the traditional service as much as I can.
—Debby McConnell, Spokane (Wash.) chapter
The church I work for as worship organist/pianist has been fully remote since March 2020. Sunday services are pre-recorded and then released online each week. I had very little experience prior to the COVID crisis in recording music for ANY reason (let alone being asked to do so on a weekly basis). Luckily, the minister is very kind, patient, and understanding. In the early days, she told me it was fine to simply record myself playing on my (slightly out of tune) acoustic piano using the Voice Memo function on my phone. She even said the ambient noise (including my lovebird chirping) added to the “homespun” and “live” feeling. However, after a few weeks I decided to try recording music using the MIDI connection on my electric keyboard and GarageBand on my laptop. I have gotten better and better as the months have continued, both in the amount of time it takes me each week, as well as the quality. It’s been fun to take pieces originally written for solo organ and experiment with different orchestrations!
—Angela Papierski, Boston (Mass.) chapter
We are creating videos of performances, virtual choirs, etc. uploading them to YouTube and using them in our online worship services. We just restarted in-person worship, but are maintaining recorded music due to health concerns among our musicians. All music in the in-person services is recorded and played on the video screen. Our choir is having Zoom rehearsals every week. Obviously the singers are muted due to latency issues but I have a home studio and am able to play high quality rehearsal tracks through my system. These rehearsals have been a blessing for so many of our members – that regular contact, a chance to sing, visit, and laugh together.
—Rebecca Talbott, Albuquerque (N.Mex.) chapter
Our United Methodist church was closed for four months by our bishop. During that time, we live-streamed worship services with the organ, twin grand pianos, and a vocal quartet. Since reopening, we are using a 16-voice vocal ensemble, an instrumental pick-up group of 8-10 people, twin pianos, and the organ. The choir, normally 75–80, has not met since March 15, 2020. Not sure when it will be able to resume. We also skipped large music/drama pageants at Easter and Christmas last year, as well as Easter this year.
—Ken Williams, independent
Hymns are now being led by a quartet in four-part harmony with microphones. I’ve been using the playback feature on the Peterson system to provide extra gathering music for streaming. I also use it more to have something ready in case I become ill and also to reduce on-site practice time while we were to work from home as much as possible. For lessons, I email my teacher copies of my music so we can stay farther apart.
—Amy M. Warner, Wichita (Kans.) chapter
The church I serve was struggling before COVID-19 and the pandemic has made the church’s survival a struggle. I make sure that I am at the church practicing for the hour or two before the worship service so that anyone who comes in the door is greeted by the living and encouraging sound of the organ. I am also a harpist, so I have been recording daily five minute musical meditations for the past year and posting them on youtube and the church’s Facebook page to provide encouragement and spiritual nourishment.
—Mary Stevens, independent
I record everything now, and my choir rehearses in their cars with wireless mics and I am inside with the FM transmitter, receivers for the mics, a mixer and computer. It’s been working out well.
—Marcia Hempel, Cape Cod and the Islands (Mass.) chapter
I think most musicians have been forced to make more music at home, since it’s been dangerous to go to our church or educational institutions to rehearse and perform. My husband and I and our best friend formed a pandemic musical group about a year ago, made up of two mountain dulcimers and the guitar. When the pandemic hit, my husband and I could barely play the dulcimer. Fortunately, he began taking lessons online from a master dulcimer player. Pretty soon, we began rehearsing weekly in our home with our best friend, a guitarist. Within four months, we started receiving requests to perform. Currently, Nero’s Fiddle of KY has a couple of gigs at least once a month and are Artists in Residence at the KY Musical Hall of Fame, in Mt. Vernon, KY.
—Tina Wagoner, Lexington (Ky.) chapter
I began my new position as Director of Music at Lutheran Church of the Risen Savior in Green Valley, AZ in September 2020. I approached our Pastor about purchasing The Singer’s Mask from the Broadway Relief Project. Without any hesitation, he said we’ll do it and the church will pay for it. We purchased 20 masks which gave us a 5% discount and since then have been given five more. They have been wonderful, and the congregation has so much appreciated the choir’s leadership. We rehearse in the church where we have more space to social distance. Everybody is required to wear them the entire rehearsal and during the service. Our service is streamed, and it’s amazing how well you can hear the words with the mask on. We rehearse less time–about 1 hour 15 minutes–but we sing special music each Sunday as well as lead the liturgy, and now Evening Prayer during Lent. We did have one bass come down with the virus, but nobody else got it. It does break the flow of the aerosols. That tells you how well the masks protected us. The adjustable wire comes over the nose and the cheekbone, and the mask comes well under the chin. There is about 3-4 inches of space that protrudes from the nose to allow for breathing and also doesn’t muffle the sound. We have been growing in numbers up to 15 now, and we will soon start practicing for Holy Week and Easter. Just call us the no-quack duck chorus!
–Patricia A. Leege, Southern Arizona chapter
To help fill the void of ensemble singing during covid restrictions at Lutheran Church of the Ascension, Atlanta, the church purchased a preowned 3 octave set of handbells that was no longer being used by a local private school. This addition to the worship service provided a welcome boost to our music ministry. We recruited 4 beginning ringers (with limited music reading abilities) who were socially distanced and masked. To meet the challenge of finding appropriate repertoire to ring for the 10th anniversary of the pastor’s ordination I composed a piece “Jubilation” which later happily ended up winning 3rd place in a competition on MuseScore, the platform I used to write the piece. Here are links to MuseScore and a recording.
As a public school teacher I have been frustrated by laws prohibiting virtual performances of copyright music so have turned to composing more original works.
—Tammy Feinberg, San Jose (Calif.) chapter
I switched church jobs! After the federal Paycheck Protection Program ran out at the church I had served for four years, the rector cut my 20 hours a week to six. I found another position through the AGO and now am making about 75 percent of the former time and money in another church. My “new” church has a Covid-reduced attendance and live-streams its services, including the organ and piano, but choirs have not re-gathered as many seniors are not yet prepared to return. During the interim, I restored an old church piano which had a lot of sentimental value, and I have added some longer-term facility cleaning to my routines as the church does not have custodial staff.
—Kenneth Kepler, District of Columbia chapter
I am an adjunct professor at Ohio Christian University in Circleville, Ohio. When the pandemic first became obvious, the university told all of us professors we needed to learn how to teach online. As a teacher of piano and organ, at first I didn’t see how that was possible in my field. But I learned about FaceTime, Messenger, Zoom and all the rest of the ways to teach so that you and the student could see and hear each other. The students and I adapted quicker than we believed possible. We also enjoyed the method so much more than we believed possible. I am the chancel organist at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Lancaster, Ohio. We first gave up on indoor church. Then when the weather warmed up, we found an excellent spot for outdoor church in the church garden. We were careful of social distancing and found we enjoyed outdoor church.
—Mary Jane Dean, Columbus (Ohio) chapter
Weekly “Notes from the Music Director” article in church e-newsletter to the congregation; including links to YouTube channel to listen to new hymns we introduce. Weekly e-news to choir giving scores to learn, music list for upcoming services, and other helpful info. Recording choir parts and emailing the audio files so they can learn their parts. Rotating choir so that everyone gets a chance to sing in the limited space we have that requires social distancing of choristers.
—Ed Ackermann, Fort Worth (Tex.) chapter
Using the Zoom platform for weekly meetings with parish musicians, frequent webinars for special musical presentations; e.g. Music for the Ascension, and on special topics, e.g. hymn studies, film music, etc.
—Douglas Starr, Pittsburgh (Pa.) chapter
We have chosen to see the challenges as opportunities to grow in different ways rather than restrictions from the old ways. We have been meeting with regular rehearsals, but by sitting in the nave and rehearsing separated by section and masked. We’ve pulled a piano into the center to help keep the choristers together as we learn our music. Then we record audio and video with a reduced number standing in the choir loft while others are still seated in the nave, recording with a more expanded room sound rather close, thus picking up some of the reverberation of the room in the recording, which adds some acoustic depth to the sound. Then, the pre-recorded choir selections are inserted at the appropriate time in the Sunday live-stream service by the technical crew. Vocal and instrumental solos such as piano, organ, guitar, violin, flute, etc are presented live while adequately spaced. We have been able to connect with our shut-ins and members around the world in a way that we had not in the past, so this was a wonderful opportunity for us to jump into the 21st century. Because of this, and the capacity to put a camera on the hands and feet of the instrumentalists, it has created a new interest in observing the musicians that would not have been possible at a weekly in-person service. The process of preparation for recording requires a bit more forethought, but only just a bit, since we treat it like we were presenting during worship. We record more than one cut, so a benefit is that we get to select the best representation for publishing while a live event only receives one opportunity. Another new way of connecting is a daily devotional presented by our church staff and posted on social media. It includes musical as well as ministerial prayers and thoughts for the day. These have been well received by our members and shared with their families scattered around the world.
—Jonathan Durkovic, independent
During the pandemic, I have taken my initial basic familiarity with audio and video editing, and transformed that into a fairly extensive knowledge that has allowed me to provide a great deal of virtual musical offerings for online worship. I produce weekly videos of organ voluntaries and virtual choir hymns and service music; we offer almost as much music online now as we did before the pandemic. Though I never envisioned I would spend so much time in front of the computer in order to make music, I’m grateful that my singers and I could adapt quickly, and provide so much music to the congregation during these spiritually trying times.
—David Kelley, Northern Virginia chapter
Question #2: What gives you hope?
I have hope for the future of church music as I have watched colleagues do whatever it took to proclaim the love of Christ, albeit in a socially-distanced manner.
—Charlene T. Cranmer, Central Florida chapter
The music director I work with is very knowledgeable, and new people have joined the choir. The choir will be stronger than before, when they all get back together again. People at church have donated money so that more recording equipment can be purchased. The church will be ready to livestream worship services in a few weeks, so we can hold in-person worship even if we have to limit attendance.
—Betsy Lord, Annapolis (Md.) chapter
While I am anxious for corporate worship to return, I understand the reasons why we just cannot do that at this time. What gives me hope is that we are doing everything we can to assure complete safety and the health of our congregation. I have been able to practice whenever I need all during the pandemic which has been absolutely wonderful for me.
—Lars Andersen, Southern Arizona chapter
Everyone’s positive attitude for getting together and making music.
—John Cecconi, Westchester County (N.Y.) and Blue Ridge (N.C.) chapters
My 24-member choir has been very flexible during the period and we have put together choir anthems virtually each month. I’ve been able to learn new audio and video technologies and the choir remains committed to the Zoom rehearsals and recording their voice parts individually.
—Debby McConnell, Spokane (Wash.) chapter
The vaccine rollout here in Massachusetts is s-l-o-w-l-y happening, so I am hopeful that in the next few months we will see a sharp enough decrease in new cases to allow me to feel safe enough to return to the outside world. Until then, I am incredibly grateful that the minister at the church where I work already was recording some services for the website before COVID (so is comfortable with the medium), and is taking a very cautious approach to the whole situation. We’ve actually had MORE people “attend” the virtual worship services some weeks than we previously would’ve had in person (and from places that it would have been impossible for them to attend live). So I think that even after the pandemic ends, there will continue to be an online presence at this church, which is a good thing for the future.
—Angela Papierski, Boston (Mass.) chapter
Playing my piano and my organ. Vaccines. Jesus. And Zoom rehearsals.
—Rebecca Talbott, Albuquerque chapter
God is in control! Although our in-house attendance is down to about 60% of what it was before the pandemic, our online viewers are ranging from 500 to 1000 more than in the past. Too, we finished the year in great shape financially.
—Ken Williams, independent
Hoping that people have missed live music and singing. While at a retreat in July, I was asked to play the organ. One listener was moved to tears by the chance to hear live music again.
—Amy M. Warner, Wichita (Kans.) chapter
This is only a season. It may feel like a long season, but it is only a season. It will pass. We will adjust and adapt. God will accomplish his will and his promises remain true.
—Mary Stevens, independent
Well, I guess I have faith that things will work out. There are many solutions to problems.
—Marcia Hempel, Cape Cod and the Islands (Mass.) chapter
Making music always gives us hope. Musicians are creative people and can always invent new options to today’s current problems. My story is an example of this.
—Tina Wagoner, Lexington (Ky.) chapter
I’m certain that we will be wearing these singer masks through this choir season into May, so the purchase has been well worth it. We’ll just have to see what they recommend for fall of 2021.
—Patricia A. Leege, Southern Arizona chapter
Our small congregation has been meeting in-person through most of COVID. We went virtual through the Lenten season and part of Easter last year. I believe church members have gained a greater appreciation for live traditional style music, especially for the organ as well as for our newly acquired bells. We look forward to the return of others who have remained isolated during covid and have not been attending services. Perhaps there will even be some more new faces.
—Debra Ramsey Dickensheets, Atlanta (Ga.) chapter
I feel privileged to spend more time at home with my musical kids and know this time has not been lost to them. Shelter in place has afforded them more time to boost their technical skills and repertoire. A normal future will return and we will be prepared and more appreciative.
—Tammy Feinberg, San Jose (Calif.) chapter
My “new” church is in a strong mainline denomination which offers numerous supports. The people of the church are committed to their liturgy (Lutheran) and their traditions. Churches should place their “hope” in God and I believe the people of the church are trying to do so.
—Kenneth Kepler, District of Columbia chapter
What gives me hope is that students and professor were able to adapt quickly to a totally new method of teaching. Scheduling was easier; the students and professor learned how to listen more carefully to all parts of the lesson. I am so proud of our music students at Ohio Christian University. They finished the term and learned as much as they would have with face-to-face lessons.
—Mary Jane Dean, Columbus (Ohio) chapter
Congregation and choir continue to be supportive of the music ministry.
—Ed Ackermann, Fort Worth (Tex.) chapter
Retention of musicians perform remotely in their homes and a healthy parish financial condition.
—Douglas Starr, Pittsburgh (Pa.) chapter
With the new processes and connection through the internet, people are connecting more often during the week with the church in ministry that is one-on-one at their convenience as well as the live opportunities at regularly scheduled times. Other churches in our area have not thought outside the box in the same way, which makes us unique to our area, allowing others to join us from home without leaving their own church family. Members who have moved away for whatever reason are able to reconnect with us and support the church from their new location. Hope for a brighter and new way of ministry has come to us by rethinking how we do church. It isn’t about what worked for centuries, but is restricted now. It is about being forced to either think beyond yesterday and entertain new ideas on how to reach out and connect versus being forced to permanently close doors because yesteryear’s operation has become obsolete. We’ve chosen to move forward in so many different new ministries such as online book studies, classes, zoom groups, arts classes, devotionals, musical opportunities for close up observation and the more we explore and look outside the walls that were built for “normal worship practices”, the more creative innovation pops up along with creative financial support opportunities, helping us to streamline our operation as well as refocus on what meets today’s needs for our parish, our facility, our neighborhood and community as well as beyond.
—Jonathan Durkovic, independent
I’m hopeful that vaccinations will allow us to get back to live music-making soon.
—David Kelley, Northern Virginia chapter
Question #3: Additional Thoughts
I believe that even as we begin to return to in-house worship services, churches will still use pre-recorded and Live-Streamed formats to try to reach the widest population with the message of Christ’s love!
—Charlene T. Cranmer, Central Florida chapter
We will continue live-streaming our service even after resuming in-person worship because we now have parishioners all across the country. A challenge for me is that I don’t use only sacred music – there is so much beautiful spiritual music of a secular nature. And getting that covered for live-streaming (license-wise) is a bit of a headache.
—Christina Misner Rao, Portland (Maine) chapter
My husband and I used to be the kind of people that ran from obligation to obligation all day long—work, work, work, hobbies, volunteer activities, family, friends, pets. We were exhausted, and never had a moment to spare or seemingly an extra cent left in our bank account at month-end (there was a lot of eating out at restaurants and ordering takeout because neither of us had the energy to cook once we finally got home.) Now we cook all our meals at home from scratch, haven’t attended any in-person gatherings in nearly a year, and have actually grown much closer (at a distance) with some family and friends, now that we have regularly scheduled times when we meet online. There are many aspects of my former life that I will not be resuming, even when it’s safe to do so again. I don’t know if I would’ve ever had the time or will to reflect on what I truly value and hold dear had I not been forced to because of the pandemic. I find it sickening that the crisis has continued on as long as it has, and my heart aches for all the lives lost or forever altered. Yet I hope others will also find something positive in this experience when all is said and done.
—Angela Papierski, Boston (Mass.) chapter
The COVID vaccine is shedding light on the darkness in which we have experienced. I look forward to soon playing the organ and piano for a real live choir and a live congregation in my church. Nothing can substitute the joy of making music and praising God together with others.
—Tina Wagoner, Lexington (Ky.) chapter
I sense the COVID interruption is having severe negative numerical results on teens and twenties who were already marginal in commitment and attendance. I am gratified that an older generation understands the challenges facing churches today and believe they will remain faithful over the longer term.
—Kenneth Kepler, District of Columbia chapter
Livestreaming of services at our church will continue “forever,” even after COVID-19 has been caged. Having invested in the equipment for live-streaming, all kinds of side benefits are happening: a good missionary outreach, casual visitors searching for a church service hit the “donate” button, and workshops and educational religious classes live-streamed/pre-recorded can be attended any time a person has time to study.
—Ed Ackermann, Fort Worth (Tex.) chapter
Certain technological innovations should continue when we return to in person worship. For example, services should be live streamed on Facebook.
—Douglas Starr, Pittsburgh chapter
Those congregations who have not thought outside of traditional ways to worship, closed doors and are waiting for things to reopen are going to find that when the world does reopen, they will have lost their membership to the churches who have capitalized on providing opportunities for connection digitally, and in small groups at a distance. It is not the style of worship, but the personal connection and effort made by a vital church to stay connected in as many ways as possible. By providing new options for participation, our church has grown stronger. People want to participate in something and though in-person groups can’t be large, they can still exist. We just have to create more of them. When things do open back up, we will have a whole new way of doing things that will explode from the seedlings of small groups into the field of dreams!
—Jonathan Durkovic, independent
I’m wondering how much of my virtual music-making experience I will be able to carry forward in a post-pandemic world. I hope to be able to use my new skills in some way to enhance my work, rather than merely leaving those skills behind.
—David Kelley, Northern Virginia chapter