Arranging
Musical Arranging & Leading
Choirs, bands, orchestra instruments, and events from regular Sunday services to major Christmas concerts.
When I started in music ministry as a teenager I realized quickly that the horizon of what could be accomplished with a given volunteer talent pool was very limited if one was relying on off-the-shelf music. While there were of course arrangements of popular material available for a variety of vocal configurations and instrumentations, the reality was that it was often difficult to find material that fit a given lineup well: many players have limited technical skill, and many singers can’t read music or struggle with range limitations. Other times an arrangement needed to match a certain vibe or fit in its slot in the flow of the event it was performed in.
The answer to all this was to learn how to write custom arrangements that were tailored exactly to the talent available and situation at hand. This involved a solid grasp of music theory but also a good understanding of the various instruments and knowing what was easy or difficult to do on each (for example, some chords are more guitar-friendly than others).
As a result my arranging work in church environments always had a distinct focus on developing people, writing to each person’s skill level: challenging enough so they would find their parts interesting and rewarding to learn but not so difficult that they would become frustrated.
Instruments I arranged for included band instruments and all manner of brass, strings, and winds, as well as choirs and other vocal configurations. I also arranged a fair number of piano duets (four hands). Bach’s Badinerie below is one of them.
When putting together church events with many volunteers I always put major effort into tying the program together so that it would make sense to the audience as a whole rather than feeling like a scattered selection of music pieces. An example of how custom arranging contributed to that is the opening of Together We Sing 2015. It’s a single piece that starts with a Handel aria, transitions to a hymn, and ends with a contemporary piece with full band, choir, and orchestra instruments. As such it signified the variety of the music in the evening ahead.
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Freue dich Welt
"Joy to the World", in German. Second half of the opening for Adventskonzert 2007 at Erlöserkirche Gelsenkirchen, which consisted of an instrumental while the choir walked up, then "Freue dich Welt". Choir, brass, strings, and band.
For to us a child is born
From Together We Sing 2015 at King Road Church. I actually wrote this piece in its entirety (not just the arrangement).
Bach — Badinerie, four hands
My arrangement, with Mel Bowker, at a concert at Valley Crossway Church in Abbotsford.
Unto the Lamb
Easter 2015: I adopted Bradley Knight’s brilliant arrangement for King Road Church. Listen for two choirs, and polyrhythmic section at the end (4/4 on 12/8).
