Creative Musical Leadership

 

Many musical groups grappled with the COVID crisis in various ways. Perhaps no one addressed it in a greater variety of fashions than Red Rock Community Choir under the leadership of President Marcie Peck. The choir managed three concerts during the pandemic although they were never together in one place. A Fall concert featured soloists from the choir in a broadcast performance. Christmas and Spring brought virtual concerts recorded in individual homes by choir members and assembled by an engineer. Those performances appeared on You Tube and other social media. They were enjoyed at numerous watch parties sponsored by the choir.

But Marcie realized that surviving separation meant much more than just singing. Community had to be preserved and enlarged. Board members sent personal greetings to choir members on video. Births and weddings were celebrated. An online funeral was attended for the grandson of a choir member lost to COVID. A postcard campaign placed actual old-fashioned mail in member’s homes. Notes of encouragement and the desire to get back together traveled among the choir community.

“This is my mission field,” writes Peck. “COVID has helped me learn to be a gracious leader as a Christ-follower.”

And the future is bright. In 2018 the Red Rock Community Choir became the official music group for the D-Day celebration in Normandy, France. Next year they will travel through Germany and Austria performing their blend of Broadway, Celtic, Americana and Sacred music in numerous cathedrals.

TOGETHER!