There were many composers, writers, and organizations during the nineteenth century that objected to the current condition of American church music and encouraged reform. Yet none had as lasting influence as the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, Thomas Hastings, and Lowell Mason. Boston Handel and Haydn Society The Handel and Haydn Society was formed in 1815 in Boston… Continue Reading
I was recently asked to compose a choir and orchestra piece in honor of Steve Allen’s 25 consecutive years as Music Pastor of First Baptist Church in Troy, MI (my home church). I was honored to be a part of the celebration, and last weekend I had the privilege of conducting the choir and orchestra… Continue Reading
New today, and only here: you can now purchase and download Dan Forrest’s new choral album, “Arise, Shine!” at our web store for only $8.99! . Click here for the full mp3 album. . See Scott Aniol’s review of the album here. Continue Reading
I’m delighted to be able to review and recommend Dan Forrest’s new CD, “Arise, Shine!” I’ll first offer some broad impressions of the whole album, and then I’ll make some comments about the individual pieces. There are several things about this recording that stand out as significant benefits in my book: “Arise, Shine!” is recorded… Continue Reading
Conservative churches that want to do a special service around Christmas time often have a hard time finding cialis price quality “pre-packaged” programs. So what are other alternatives? One of the best and most flexible options, in my opinion, is “A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.” I used this service all but one of… Continue Reading
I am thrilled to announce a new web site that we have been developing that seeks to help pastors, church music directors, and other church music directors as they choose music. If you have spent any time at all choosing music for your church, you know how much time, effort, sweat, and (sometimes) tears (!)… Continue Reading
Speaking of good things coming out of SoundForth, I recently received a choral demo from them featuring the music of David Rasbach. First, and add it to your choral collection. It is excellent. It is only $6. It is professionally recorded, features the Bob Jones Academy Chorale (which Rasbach directs, and whose sounds is better… Continue Reading
On March 19, SoundForth will release its latest choral recording, “The King of Love.” In anticipation of the release, Dan Forrest sent me a review copy and asked me to share some thoughts here. I do not pretend to be an expert in choral recordings, but here are some thoughts from my little corner of… Continue Reading
Many of us bemoan the fact that there really aren’t very many new, fresh, yet profoundly conservative hymns with rich, doctrinal texts and stable, lasting tunes being written today. There are some. The best I know of are being written by Paul Jones in collaboration with a few pastor/theologians. You can find those hymns here.… Continue Reading