As I described in an earlier In Song entry, a church’s recording project can invite a wider public to listen to what is going on musically in a congregation, opening a window, and sometimes an inviting door, into its life.
Composer Ronald Beckett’s opera Ruth (1996) is the first in a trilogy of biblical musical dramas. It has been performed in a number of venues in Ontario, including Central, Brantford, where Beckett is music director. The CD of the opera lasts just over an hour, and is performed by a chorus of Israelites, a chorus of youths, and soloists who portray the characters Ruth, Naomi, Boaz and a Narrator.
Churches are always in need—and sometimes in desperate need—of renewal in their worship arts. Congregational song is one strand in the tapestry of our church life that is dangerously frayed. Part of the problem is that we are not a singing culture.
One detail often omitted from a church’s recording project is copyright. But copyright is a justice issue.
Cameron Strings is a duo of guitar and vocals. Tara and Scott Cameron, originally from Toronto, lead music at Holy Trinity Anglican in Merrickville. What the Cameron duo offers is simple and direct.
A Presbyterian minister told me—back in the early 80’s—that the Presbyterian Church is not known for its music. Being both true and not true, the statement stuck with me.
The Far Country
Krystal MeyersEssential Records
Nothing is Sound