This holiday season many singers can expect to have performing work in churches. Here are some issues to take into account as you prepare for these jobs.
What nice opportunities can there be for someone who loves to sing sacred classical music? Singing in a beautiful, acoustically superior space, to an audience that appreciates what you are doing! Singing church gigs can be very rewarding and career building. It is helpful to look at some of the realities of singing in churches if you have never done it before. Church solo singing can range from singing an aria or hymn in Sunday services to an afternoon recital series to your being a member of a small ensemble or the church’s own choir or a full-scale performance of an oratorio such as Handel’s Messiah or a Bach cantata.
Your church contact will probably be the director of music or choir director, but it may also be the pastor, church warden, or secretary. It could also be a manager for higher-level performances, such as soloist with a professional orchestra or chamber ensemble. Here are some things to expect to deal with.
Incense
Some churches and synagogues use incense during their services. This is usually during high holy days such as Christmas or Easter. Denominations that use incense include Episcopal/Anglican, Eastern and Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and others. Not all individual congregations within these denominations use incense, and not every service within a denomination or congregation uses incense.
Some singers have asthma and may be affected by the incense. Some singers may get affected by the dryness of the air that comes from the smoke. Some do not like the smell, and it will give them a headache. Be sure to ask about incense if this could be an issue for you.
In some cases, a soloist can be placed inside the sanctuary away from the incense processional so that by the time you sing the incense has dissipated, or they can work a time where you sing before the processional begins or afterwards and avoid the incense altogether. But you may need to drink water and use an inhaler if this is an issue for you, or decide to not take jobs for these kinds of church services.
Robes
In some churches the choir members are robed. And sometimes this includes the soloist, even when they are not singing with the choir at all. For many soloists, singing with a robe is hot and constricting of movement and makes an uncomfortable sensation around the neck where the collar lies. Most singers do not sing with anything around the throat or neck, including collars or scarves or necklaces, for these reasons.
It is important to discuss this with your contact so you understand how you have to dress for your gig. If you must wear a robe you may want to dress lighter than you normally would underneath so as not to get overheated. You may be able to negotiate not having to sing with a robe during your solo work, especially if it’s before the main service, such as a type of pre-service recital, and then robe for the procession which will follow. I had this practice with one church for many years.
If you are not singing with the choir at all, you may not have to robe, but some churches may insist that you do. This can be very frustrating if you do not know about it beforehand. I would still recommend negotiating this—and knowing for sure what you will be able to, or have to, wear before you agree to the gig helps with planning. A “small” thing like this is not small to a professional singer but may not be considered important or an issue at all by the church contacts involved.
To Sing with the Choir—or Not
If you are preparing solo material, you may find you have to switch gears and jump into choir mode. Some singers find that the differences in technique would make singing both choral and solo singing in the same program untenable. Be firm if you feel you are only a soloist and are only there to sing solo material. But some singers can more easily switch between solo and choir singing in a program, and usually a choir director is happy to have such a musician.
You may be getting paid to be a singer in the choir or a section leader as well as soloist for that day. You need to know this in advance. I have noticed that if I sing a solo after singing with the choir, my voice has lost its subtlety, because singing with the choir is loud and you cannot hear yourself as well.
Some directors may see you as a “diva” if you choose not to sing with the choir (or do not prefer to be robed for your solo work)—but, then, maybe you are not meant to do choral singing or sing in this setting anyway. If the choir director does not choose to see your perspective on what matters to you and how these factors affect your voice, perhaps it is best to put your singing to better use elsewhere.
Getting Paid
You should agree to be paid the day/evening of the performance if not in advance. Some churches offer direct deposit, which may take a few days to post, and others mail checks later. Be sure you know how and when you will be paid before you provide your services, as it is inappropriate to be paid long afterward.
Belief Systems
Soloists are usually hired regardless of belief system or whether they adhere to the doctrine of the church or synagogue at which they are hired to sing. But sometimes your personal beliefs will matter very much—to you and/or to the congregation which might hire you.
I have personally been “vetted” before several church personnel and even a committee (about everything from my beliefs to my personal life) before being granted the opportunity to sing in some churches! Nevertheless, it is proper to be respectful of all traditions and practices where you are guest.
Do not accept a gig where their beliefs are against your conscience or if you have been asked to sing texts that you feel you cannot sing in truth. This is unfair both to you and to the church or synagogue that is considering hiring you.
You Are a Piece of the Puzzle, Not the Prize
You have to understand that you play a part as a cog in a wheel in a church service—much of your function is what you do to fill a certain time slot during the liturgy or service format rather than to make an artistic statement.
In a Christian church, your purpose during the offertory is to provide musical diversion while the offering is being collected. Your function during communion would be to offer reflective music so that the parishioners can get ready to receive the sacrament. To sing at the prelude may be to provide ambience as the parishioners enter the church before the service proper begins.
If you are the “special music,” you may have more of an opportunity to shine as a true soloist and sing with greater attention paid to what you are doing. If you are hired as a soloist for a performance of an oratorio, mass, or cantata, then you would have a greater solo function than the other types of solo singing done in a church setting. This is because the church might simply be a venue rented by an orchestra or ensemble and have nothing to do with the congregational life of the church whose building they are using.
Discuss Special Needs or Accommodations
It is helpful in some settings to make sure that having, say, a water bottle or cup of hot herbal tea nearby where you sing is part of what you need in order to feel comfortable performing. This also includes what you can or may have to wear as discussed above. The more requests made beforehand, the less worry, confusion, or issue will develop when you get there to sing—and less reason for the powers that be to get annoyed something you want or wish to do at the last minute.
“Contemporary” versus “Traditional”
Traditional Christian churches tend to be the stalwarts of classical music or classically oriented music programs. But more “modernized” congregations have long ago moved to pop-rock type services or contemporary-styled “praise and worship” services. Usually, these more modern entities are self-selecting, and if you are a classical singer, may not get a gig with one of them. But if you do, it will be a change of pace indeed!
Synagogue Singing
There are excellent opportunities for singing sacred Jewish music in Reform synagogues. When the Reform movement developed historically, they modeled their services on Lutheran Protestant services and the choir became an integral part of the service.
Many synagogues hire soloists for their weekly Shabbat services and have a choir made up of members of the congregation. Keep in mind that Shabbat services are held on Friday evenings and/or Saturday mornings, in keeping with a Saturday Sabbath, which starts on Friday night and runs through to Saturday night. Theoretically, you could have a synagogue gig for Friday and/or Saturday, and then Sunday you’d sing at a church, so you’d be singing all weekend.
You generally do not need to be Jewish to sing in a Reform choir, although certain sung prayers need to be sung by a Jewish singer during high holy days. Reform congregations are very welcoming and accepting of non-Jewish musicians, and it is a spiritually rewarding experience to be part of an ancient tradition which offers culturally distinct religious music.
