Summer is officially here, we reached 100 degrees in Longview on Sunday afternoon! Looking across the auditorium I noticed a few families missing and some choir chairs with alternates, but all went well anyway!
The best thing that we musicians can do is to do is plan big - and then have Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, E, etc... Get your back-up plans by going through the music files and look for "dormant" groups, you know, those who haven't sung in a few months because a new babies, sickness, job changes, etc... Have a few extra practices as soon as possible and let them know to be ready just in case they're needed.
If and when all of your regular group members show up for their rehearsals, take advantage of the time and practice a couple of old songs and let them know that these are for emergencies, you may be calling the night before!
Our choir director has a vacation calendar for all to sign at the beginning of the summer so he'll know how many to plan for in the choir each Sunday. I usually ask each group if they'll be gone on their next scheduled singing date and then make changes if needed. Most large groups are not affected by one or two people missing, as long as they are not "key" singers or soloists, more than that and it's probably best to reschedule.
Another way to be ready at all times is to find new music for your soloists. Let them know that they are "on call" and need to be ready in case of emergency. Use summer time to do music finding, research, organizing, and re-assigning songs.
If you have a big event this summer, like revival or teen conferences, you can use the music that was scheduled during the conference throughout the summertime, especially if it was new music for the conference.
Remember that you can enjoy the music ministry, even it if is summertime!
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