Youth choir update

Our youth choir had its first live rehearsal since May! The Saint Nicholas Choir has held an epic number of Zoom rehearsals over the last 18 months, but is returning to live work in the Music Center and Church.

Like the adults, who have been rehearsing live for a couple of weeks, the youths will follow a series of mitigation protocols to keep things as safe as possible, including rehearsing in multiple spaces, limiting durations, taking temperature checks, using larger spacing than the adults use, and of course, masking. All of this adds up to a rather unusual rehearsal setting, but our youths have continued to be very flexible and cheerful about the adjustments we’ve had to make since last spring.

We can accomplish so much more in a live setting, and we have a lot of work to do! With the usual schedule of services starting up in October and with a UK Residency shaping up for next July, we will have to hit the road running, as they say. Our weeks ahead will be filled with ensemble work, theory, anthems, evening canticles, and lots of psalms.

Please keep the youth in your thoughts and prayers as we head into this choir season, and if you think to, ask for their good health, for diligence, for collegiality, and for an increase of love and faith for each of us. In the midst of all this cultural upheaval, it’s easy for us to forget our common life in the din of current events and concerns. We hope that this choir will be a quiet place where these youths can serve and learn, even in the midst of trying circumstances.

— Dr. Justin Appel, Director of Music