The Contemporary Mass, the Drummer, and the Paid Section Leader
A parish ensemble has 22 volunteer singers and six instrumentalists: piano, guitar, flute, violin, bass guitar, and drum kit. The Thursday rehearsal is 90 minutes for two Sunday Masses. The new pastor wants the 5:00 p.m. Mass to become more contemporary within three months; long-time members resist, saying the 10:30 a.m. choir is the real choir. A paid soprano section leader has missed four of the last six rehearsals and arrives 15 minutes late; the drummer plays at a volume that drowns the singers; a volunteer cantor says she feels undermined by the section leader. Christmas Eve has four Masses between 4:00 p.m. and midnight, and the ensemble is asked to lead all of them. The director has one planning meeting with the pastor before Advent and no budget for additional staff.
1. Diagnose the underlying issues and set priorities for the next 90 days. What will you promise, and what will you refuse to promise?
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Separate the four issues: vision, personnel, ensemble balance, and workload. First, get the pastor to define what more contemporary means in practice: repertoire, instrumentation, vocal style, or a separate ensemble at 5:00 p.m. Ask what he will fund and what he will not. Second, assess capacity honestly. One ensemble cannot absorb a new style, a personnel problem, and four Christmas Masses without a plan; propose a smaller 5:00 p.m. team drawn from the ensemble and keep the 10:30 a.m. choir as a distinct group, not a rival. Third, address the paid section leader's attendance as a personnel matter, not a rehearsal annoyance. Fourth, address the drummer's volume through arrangement and placement before making it a personality conflict. For the next 90 days: weeks 1-2, meet the pastor, the section leader, and the cantor; weeks 3-4, trial a 5:00 p.m. subset; weeks 5-8, stabilize repertoire and sound; weeks 9-12, plan Christmas with written assignments. Do not promise four Masses until you have counted who is actually available.
2. Design a 90-minute rehearsal that addresses the immediate musical and relational issues without trying to fix everything at once.
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Use the 90 minutes to solve one musical problem and one relational problem, not to run everything. 0-5 minutes: tune and a brief listening exercise, with the drums playing soft brushes only. 5-20 minutes: sectionals, sopranos with the section leader on blend, rhythm section on tempo and dynamics. 20-45 minutes: work the 5:00 p.m. repertoire with the full ensemble, stopping to mark dynamics and articulations. 45-60 minutes: place the drums behind a shield or move them to the side, have the drummer play with rods or brushes on two songs, and rehearse the same songs with singers only, then add instruments. 60-75 minutes: run the 10:30 a.m. anthem and fix one transition. 75-85 minutes: run the full Sunday set with no stopping. 85-90 minutes: announce assignments and end on time. Put the cantor and section leader on opposite sides of the choir for the rehearsal so their roles are clear. Record the run and send a short clip to the pastor to show progress; do not invite the pastor to critique a rehearsal.
3. How do you handle the paid section leader's attendance and the volunteer cantor's complaint?
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Speak with the section leader privately and specifically: four absences and repeated lateness are not compatible with a paid leadership role, regardless of vocal ability. Ask what is going on, restate the written expectations, and set a 30-day improvement plan with dates. Document each conversation and each subsequent absence. If the pattern continues, reassign the section-leader duties or end the paid arrangement according to parish policy; do not let the volunteers absorb the work silently. With the cantor, listen first and separate perception from fact; then bring the two together with a clear role description: the section leader coaches the sopranos, the cantor leads the assembly, and neither critiques the other in public. Set a norm that musical corrections go through the director. If the cantor's concern is retaliation or harassment, involve the pastor and the parish personnel process. Keep the ensemble's need for a functioning soprano section in view, but do not sacrifice a volunteer's dignity for a paid singer's convenience.