NPM President
  • NeilWeston
    Posts: 16
    Just received.

    Dear fellow members,

    Late last week, Steve Petrunak informed us that he would be leaving his role as President/CEO of NPM in the coming months.

    For the last 4 years, Steve has been a highly effective leader for our association, leading our national staff in helping NPM accomplish our mission of “fostering the art of musical liturgy."

    Steve’s accomplishments during his tenure as NPM’s executive director are many, but chief among them are:

    Stabilizing our financial situation so that NPM can better serve you, our members, and the Church.
    Creating new programs and communications tools, including an enhanced website, a podcast, a refreshed Pastoral Music magazine, our first ever virtual convention, and much more!
    Modernizing NPM’s business practices to allow us to not just survive, but to thrive.
    The creation of several new chapters, especially in the West.

    Steve shares the following:

    “It is with great disappointment and sadness that for personal reasons, I inform you of my decision to leave NPM as President/CEO. For nearly 4 years, I have committed myself to building an NPM that offers excellent support and value for members. To be clear, my decision to step down has nothing to do with my passion for NPM, nor the future vision created by the board of directors. I have a deep love for NPM and firmly believe that NPM will continue to provide its members with great programming and benefits for years to come. It has been a deep blessing to have served you during my time in leadership, and I wish NPM nothing but great success for the future.”

    We will have opportunities to honor and thank Steve in the coming months as he concludes his work for NPM. In the meantime, the Board of Directors is already engaged in the process of identifying a new executive director, to ensure a smooth transition so that NPM can continue to serve you as you serve the Church.

    Thanks for everything that you do for NPM!
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,085
    It's a tough organization to lead, what with declining membership and interest, especially now with Covid-19 and what that entails for parish music and not being able to offer workshops. Heck, they had to do a virtual convention this year; I'm sure that wasn't fun. I don't know anyone who "attended" this year's convention. I watched the free opening event video on YouTube and thought it was extremely boring. The video/virtual conference is not a model that's going to succeed. NPM is probably on its way out. I don't know that there's any need for what it offers.
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    Much the same could be said for CMAA, in COVIDtide. We're not as committed to the ongregational song model, so we have a slightly broader scope of action. But I don't know how much longer this can go on.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,890
    I would hope that the renaissance of authentic church music will help stay the tide and allow the CMAA to continue well into the future.
    Thanked by 1marymezzo
  • NeilWeston
    Posts: 16
    As a friend said to me last night when the news came out, "NPM is a struggling organization, and I'm surprised it's still alive."

    That being said, an organization that is focused on such a narrow niche of musical expression in the liturgy and which appeared so unwilling to broaden its outreach and concern is less likely to be able to weather the storm.

    The heyday of the conferences is definitely past. The vendors in the exhibit halls have been saying how much less financially rewarding it has been for them year on year for the past several events.

    It will be interesting to see where they go from here. Mr Petrunak is a guitarist by profession so that appointment was a pretty clear indication of their priorities. We shall see.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,890
    I wasn't familiar with NPM until this thread; I visited their youtube channel and then promptly left. I figured out the vibe pretty quickly and it wasn't for me.
  • Caleferink
    Posts: 434
    I actually "attended" some of the "virtual convention" and was even a beta tester for the platform they used - I was getting bored in quarantine. I think they tried their best with the situation presented, but just like everything else that has been converted from in-person to virtual, it just wasn't the same. It was hard to really get anything out of it, and they really sunk their teeth into the Black Lives Matter movement, with a whole track of breakout sessions on it.

    As for the organization itself, despite trying to appear more stable I can tell it's still walking on thin ice. The "vibe" seemed to be slowly changing for the better under Msgr. Hilgartner, but when he stepped back and Mr. Petrunak came on, it was right back to the way it was in the "Sing a New Church" days. It seems like over the last 6 years of conventions (because these are the ones my parish will pay for, and I do like to explore the cities), the exhibit hall and number of exhibitors has shrunk year on year to the point where 2 years ago in Raleigh they didn't even have a hall but rather had the booths spaced out around the corridors surrounding the main hall. the plan announced last year was that there wouldn't even be a convention in 2022 as a cost-cutting measure. I think there is enough membership right now for NPM to survive the next several years, but as long as they stay entrenched in the "industry" mindset instead of the work of the Church, it's going to slowly die off as its aging membership does likewise.
    Thanked by 1ServiamScores
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    OK, I've never been. But a DM I'm friends with (of a RotR bent, formerly on here but thrown out) went and said it was surprising how much chant there was at the convention. I got the impression that it was "another thing to sing at Mass". But it looks like a recognition of a changing market.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    Who knows how the future will treat NPM. Some years ago, my pastor cancelled all the church memberships and stated that we had grown beyond what NPM had to offer.
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