Music at New Song

When your church has a name like New Song, everybody sings.

At New Song, music is an integral part of our services. The emphasis is not on performance, but on worship. The songs we sing on a given Sunday have a close connection with the readings and sermon.

The choir, directed by Linda Kroon, is open to all who want to come to rehearsals on Wednesdays to work on the ministry of supporting worship music. Some of the choir members have sung for many years; some got their start in chorals singing with New Song's choir. We laugh, have a good time, and sing a lot.

Choir rehearsal is at 7:15 on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month, September through May. Specific dates are listed on the New Song calendar. Linda Kroon may be contacted at linda-kroon@uiowa.edu.

During our services, the choir sits in congregation, for the most part. This congregation really sings! And we sing all sorts of music, not just Episcopal hymns, though we do plenty of those, too. On a typical Sunday morning we might do an African-American spiritual, a hymn with inclusive language from the hymnal of another denomination, a familiar hymn's words sung to a Caribbean beat, and a psalm in Anglican chant.

The variety in New Song's music is wide. Instruments range from the piano that offers the prelude and accompanies most music every Sunday to the special instruments: hammered dulcimer, guitar, violin, flute, trumpet, and percussion instruments of all varieties.

And the voice, of course. Cantors may sing alone, the choir might sing a song at the Offertory. Always, the congregation sings. At New Song, how can we help but "Sing a New Song"!