Category Archives: Professional Development

Worship Service Playing Certification

March 02, 2012   Frank Ezinga   1 Comment
certificate

The Canadian Reformed churches don’t have an organization for their church musicians. The resources are limited and therefore it would be good for the Canadian Reformed musicians to look around and find out what is available.

When Solomon built the temple, he did not find the materials and skills within Israel (God had carefully orchestrated this) so that he went to people that were outside the covenant people of Israel to design and craft the temple. Likewise we could be open minded about using resources that are available that can increase skills of our church musicians.

Just as the Royal Canadian College of Organists (RCCO) has, the American Guild of Organists (AGO) has a certification system. The starting level of this system is the “Service Playing Certificate” (SPC). By taking this exam, organists prove that they are capable of skilfully accompanying the congregation, play the appropriate preludes, interludes and postludes, understands the concept of transposing, play appropriate music before and after the worship service, and is able to use the capabilities of the organ (registration, presets, swell box, etc.).

A report in the February 2012 issue of “The American Organist” (TAO) illustrates an example of preparation and organizing an SPC exam. The Montgomery (Ala) chaper of the AGO deemed it important that their members, organists in various churches, were able to increase their skills and take this exam.

…anyone who plays for worship services regularly and competently must already possess the knowledge and skill needed for the Service Playing Certificate…

Qualified members of this chapter started planning: they organized workshops and arranged the date for the exam. Once this was published it became clear that several members had been thinking about taking this exam… The chapter executives also decided that the chapter would pay for the examination fee and that the lessons would be free of charge.

Four workshops and a practice exam were conducted on Saturdays, spread out over several weeks. Each session focussed on different skills and techniques. Participants were not required to take the exam at the end – if they felt comfortable taking the exam, they would fill out the form and the chapter submited them together to the national office and paid the required fee with one cheque.

This is an excellent example of how our Canadian Reformed churches could benefit from organizations such as the RCCO and the AGO in acknowledging our church musicians, promoting church music and accompaniment in the worship service. We have churches grouped in several areas in Canada: the Fraser Valley in BC, Edmonton region in AB, Winnipeg area in MB, and in several areas in ON. Together the councils of our churches could choose to do the same as this AGO chapter did.

Candidates commented that taking the examination was important and useful, that it caused them to polish skills and techniques they had not used regularly or at all.

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Opportunities for Professional Development

February 07, 2012   Frank Ezinga   No comments
workshop

Do musicians in the Canadian Reformed Churches have opportunities to participate in professional development? We are a small federation, spread out, with limited resources. Nevertheless there are tremendous opportunities. Let’s explore a few options. 

First, the local music school or music educators. It is possible to take music lessons, and at an older age one can discuss the path of learning and topics with the teacher. In some cases it is possible to take group lessons and learn in that way from each other. With a private teacher it is sometimes possible to arrange lessons periodically, i.e. not every week, or study a composer, a style, time period, or another specific subject.

Second, If close to another congregation one could set up meetings with musicians  of the other congregations  and meet to play, exchange experiences, invite a guest speaker, etc. this group could also include musicians that don’t play in church but can be of support.

Third, When located in a larger city one could join the RCCO. This organization has a wealth of resources in materials and people for church musicians. In 2003 the RCCO Centre of Vancouver organized a set of workshops in the Canadian Reformed Maranatha church in Surrey BC. Montreal organist Marc D’Anjou was one of the lecturers, and all of the local church musicians were invited to participate. Organist Jan Overduin gave a concert and organ workshop in the Langley Canadian Reformed church in 2009, where all travel expenses and fees were paid by the RCCO. Only two examples of many, which are possible by involvement, interaction and initiative as a member.

Fourth. Another aspect of RCCO are the certifications. The test for the Accompaniment Diploma examines for skills and knowledge of congregational accompaniment, and pre- and post service music. Passing the exam gives an indication that the student is capable of accompanying the congregation, using preludes and postludes, and select appropriate church music before and after the church service. It also indicates that the candidate is determined to increase skills and abilities, and takes the musical task serious.

Fifth, there are DVDs available, which can be watched individually or together. The AGO has done a great job by publishing Master Classes with talented and skilled organists. Most of them have a lifetime of experience with playing an instrument and more important accompanying congregations. Another 80 minute DVD is published specifically about accompanying the congregation. This is a lecture and workshop at the same time. Last year some workshops at the annual AGO convention are recorded and available on DVD (such as an improvisation workshop). Excellent material to study and evaluate together determining the application for ourselves.

Sixth, invite a clinician for a workshop in your own church. Provide the clinician with a few topic(s) where he or she can choose from. Invite musicians from other congregations as well. This event increases in value when there is a follow up meeting the following week to evaluate and discuss the application of the workshop locally.

Seventh, the RCCO and the AGO organize annual conferences. During these conferences there are lectures, workshops, concerts that can be attended for a week long. Music publishers are displaying new sheet music and some electronic organ companies demonstrate their latest models. Organized visits to worthwhile local organs, especially when they have historical value. The RCCO conference is small in setup and provides excellent opportunities to connect with other Canadian musicians. The AGO conference is grand, with a wealth of resources, workshops, events, and concerts.

These are some examples that church musicians can utilize to increase their knowledge and skills, and through interaction with other musicians gain enouragement, motivation and regain dedication to the task at hand.

To conclude, church musicians could benefit from professional development and congregations benefit from the professional development of their church musicians. There are opportunities for professional development for church musicians, however these opportunities are not always leveraged to their full potential. 

Participation requires a willingness to learn, being open, and even being vulnerable to a certain extend. It could be uncomfortable, for the person who has a desire to play in church one day, and for the person who has played for decades, and created a comfort zone.

What could be done? Church musicians, get together and brainstorm about your options with an open mind, maximizing the opportunities. Let cost not be a limiting factor – that is for the church to decide.
Consistories, mandate your church musicians (music committee) to design an annual plan for professional development and let them report on the results in the future. Also make resources available, which could be funds, time, good instruments, etc. Church music should be an ongoing priority, and have office bearers  continuous interest.
Church members could encourage their church councils, as well as their church musicians. It is very important to hear, “Very nice this morning, that piece before the service” after the organist spent six weeks of practice to master this piece. When the singing improves and organists become more unified, it would be wonderful to let the organists know. After all church musicians also need Gods grace; their work is not perfect. Yet, their work is Soli Deo Gloria – as J.S. Bach always wrote on his compositions.

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Musical Pro-D Day

January 31, 2012   Frank Ezinga   1 Comment
SONY DSC

A so called “Pro-D Day” (Professional Development Day) is well known among students – usually it means a day off. For their teachers this means a day spending with colleagues to further develop skills and gain more knowledge about one or more aspects of their work. Sometimes this is done internally and other times external expertise is brought in. The interaction between participants is beneficial in the exchange of ideas, experiences, challenges of the work, evaluation of recent developments in areas related to the work. 

Ministers have a similar event in what is called ‘ministerial conference’. Ministers  from a larger geographical area are getting together, sometimes with ministers from other denominations with whom we have a sister church relationship. Also here the purpose is further study, discussion and interaction with others to increase skills and knowledge. In the manufacturing industry professional development could include workshops on lean processes, for project managers it may include project management certification, or for software engineers the development on writing code for the mobile devices.

Development, improving skills and gaining more knowledge, combined with interaction with people that do the same or similar work is part of live. This is usually not a trend or fashion, often it is a requirement. As Christians we are to use the talents we receive from the Lord. Using talents means that we need to work with our talents, develop them.

Church musicians developing musical skills are like the servants gaining more talents for their master in Matthew 25

Also for church musicians (and musicians with ambitions to play in church) professional development is very important. In parallel to what was said about professional development in other fields above, church musician would also benefit from gaining knowledge, discussions with fellow church musicians, exchange of ideas, increase of skills, and more.

Musicians continue learning, studying, and developing. Many artists develop and perfect their style through their lifetime. A young church musician plays and accompanies differently than later in life. Let’s look at some areas and topics that we can grow and develop in…

• When church musicians accompany the congregational singing, giving it the ideal introduction with a suitable prelude: it turns out different every time again. What works one time does not work another time. Why would that be? What should be done to address the issue? How can we anticipate this situation? These are questions that church musicians could be asking  themselves. When have we reached the level that we have answers for these questions?

• Psalms and hymns are different in musical notation, many of them are written in different times. What is the significance of this? Does that have anything to do with the way we accompany?

• Some of our churches have great pipe organs. Although the pipe organ was designed and developed over the ages for its function in the church, that doesn’t mean that it is easy to use the different stops (sound colors) that are available. Would some stops be more suitable for some Psalms or hymns than other stops? Although some stops are available on an organ does that mean they could be used with congregational accompaniment? Every pipe organ is unique (unless it is an electronic imitation) and how do we deal with the fact that some similar stops sound different from one organ to the next?

• Some churches have pianos. The piano has not been around that long, and it’s church use is more recent, usually more in Evangelical churches. When we accompany on the piano, is there a particular style method that is preferred? Another question that has been asked is what music would be suitable piano music for a Reformed church, especially the pre-service music and music for the collection.

• What do organists play before the service? New church compositions have been written since the Reformation – such as Bohm, Buxtehude and Bach, Mendelssohn, Reger, Rinck.  In The Netherlands Jan Zwart, Feike Asma, and Martin Mans. In North America Martin Man, Denis Bedard…  How can organists acquire and utilize this wealth of church music at their disposal? Could pianists use some of this material as well?

• Whether a congregation has an organ or a piano, often there are several accompanists in the congregation. When there is a difference in education, experience, background, and preferred style, the effectiveness of the accompaniment could be compromised. This is important because musical accompaniment has an emotional impact on the congregational. What steps can a music committee take to deal with this, and if you are one of the musicians, what can you do?

To work through topics like this and to respond to these kind of questions, professional development could be a great option. Even though most church musicians are not professionals, professional development will help them improve their skills.

More about opportunities for professional development in the next post.

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