A New Year I am looking forward to the new year, as I sit writing this my wife and daughter are singing along to the Jekyll and Hyde CD. They are both cast in the upcoming March Production at our local community theater. I am doing the Tech, but I start rehearsals tomorrow for Dvorak's Stabat Mater with the Wayne Oratorio Society. In July we are leaving for a month long vacation going from here in PA to California and back, taking in sites all around the country. Also, I am going to try and update this much more regularly. One of the reasons that I don't write is that it seems that as I write something I become far too critical, so I end up writing something then not posting it because I don't think that it is good enough.

Also I am starting the second half of the year in Choir, which means preparing for Lent and Easter. I have to find out what my yearly budget is this year, the church is going to have a difficulty meeting its budget this year which means there is a good chance that my music budget will be cut, but we shall see.

Last year was a good year musically for me, I wrote a Wesley piece that was well received by our congregation. The pastor has asked us to do it again this year, and I am thinking of adding to it and restructuring it, I liked my original structure musically but not sure it works as a service, so I am rethinking it, if you are interested in seeing the music, you can see and listen to it here.

For our Easter Cantata we are doing a cantata, called God With Us, it is made up of mainly of Praise Music, which means the congregation will love it, but I don't know how I feel about it. My feelings about praise music are mixed at best, I like to cantata and think it is well structured, but have never been a fan of praise music because I feel it is part of the dumbing down of Church Music in America.

I will have to write more about praise music in the coming weeks. Well I have to pick hymns for next Sunday, Epiphany you know. I will pick this up later.  ¶ 6:58 PM