A River Rather Than a Road: The Community Choir as Spiritual Experience

Description

This book is an auto-ethnographic account of the development of a charismatic community choir leader. It brings together management literature and a survey of the community choir scene with the development of community choir leadership. It provides a useful introduction to the sustaining of community choirs, including the use of English folksong material in this context. Some useful arrangements of folk songs are included. Community singing events are described with helpful advice on setting up and managing these. It presents a useful model of the range of skills necessary for aspiring community choir leaders. This is linked with the formation of a community that contains spiritual elements; this is theorized in relation to the role of the parish church in communal singing. It also discusses the two aesthetics of choral singing and the relationship between oral and literate traditions. The book arises from the engagement of the University of Winchester in partnership with the local community, which is theorized. Cover Contents Figures and Tables Acknowledgements Introduction Prelude: The Community Choir as Spiritual Experience 1 Surveying the Field 2 The Community Choir Movement 3 Leadership and Influence 4 English Folk Songs for Choirs 5 Conclusion Postlude: The Community Choir and the Contemporary Spiritual Search Appendix: Professional Doctorate by Contribution to Practice Bibliography Index