To clarify: it's an all-volunteer choir

Why not let the others sing a (obviously different) solo?

Would it be possible to sing something with psalm verses -- say, a communion antiphon -- and assign those to people for a little solo experience?

Then you could give everyone a recording of the piece, or the whole Mass. I've found that to be an effective reality check about the state of my singing.

@ connbrio

What "solo" would this be for? Is this to cantor the Responsorial Psalm? Or is this an actual solo for another particular part of the Mass, such as Offertory or Communion?

They have joined a choir and you would assume they joined to sing in an ensemble, not to be a soloist. However, I like the suggestion of a work that has small solos in it, not too challenging but something that gives the "want to be" soloist an opportunity.

I had a person who thought he was the next angelic voice to sing the song of the universe. I told him that I would work with him until I felt he was confident enough (and on pitch enough) to be part of the liturgy. I did three one hour rehearsals with him, and he still couldn't even hit the pitches. He dismissed himself from the music program. I was willing to go on until we got results and a possible opportunity to sing at the liturgy.

I have standards for the liturgy, and everyone knows it. I never turn anyone away from an aspiration, but they have to meet the minimum requirement, so its up to them! You should never have to say no in words or actions. Truth is always self evident.

You would think that a no-solo policy would quiet things. But I gathered from commentary by informed choir members (several years afterward) that the reason so many older choir members left, soon after our new director arrived, was that we pretty much stopped doing motets with solos (by request of the pastor) and they wanted solos. They didn't want to be cantors, but they did want to have solos. (I guess. Nobody said anything to me. It was just muttermuttermutter gone.)

To be fair, there's a big difference between having one motet a week at most, from having a Communion motet, a prelude motet, and often an Offertory motet, nearly every week. That may have been the real issue, especially since a few of them ended up going to another parish with a big music program. Others may have just decided that it was time to retire from choirs and pursue other interests, or their health problems may have caught up with them. But it was kinda weird that people would just dust off years with a choir and parish from their feet, without at least making their farewells to us at practice. They just disappeared, sometimes sending messages through other choir members. The whole thing was very worrying and creepy. (And kinda passive-aggressive.)

(You know what would be awesome? A choir horror movie. At first the new director thinks people just don't want to work with him -- but then they start turning up with their toes turned up....)

... and they eat reams of motets in a single bite.

What Carl said. Sometimes they don't want to leave because they're loyal, and when a change happens, they take advantage of it to depart without causing bad feelings.

no but seriously...
yeah, I do agree that people will almost always leave--especially if you're changing ANYTHING. but...assuming that you are actually going to *improve* the music program? Then most likely you will get at least some replacements. (If not, I would argue that you're doing something wrong, but we'd have to look at it on a case-by-case basis to prove that!)

MO

thats because good singers want to sing real choral music - not praise and worship.

an excellent tenor came to my choir last year hoping to sing but left to join the local community choir because he said upon leaving, you really dont even have a real choir... i snapped back, its cause of attitudes like that! he was shocked and offered to stay

its going to take a paradigm shift to change the damaged mentality of music in the RC tradition. I was angry, embarrassed and desperate all at the same time

As Carl says, it's not always you. Sometimes people get real unhappy with something else that is going on in a church and hang on only to be part of something like the choir. Then a new choir director comes in and that change pushes them over the limit of willingness to continue on in the light of this "something else" situation.

Of course, there are also the people who spread disinformation about how things are going to be under the new...choir director, pastor, janitor...just to give people they don't like a push towards the door. The use of disinformation to deal with competitors was once taught in many US corporations.

Disinformation is false or inaccurate information that is spread deliberately with intentions of turning genuine information useless.

I would say a good reminder that the music is not about THEM might do the trick. If they are envious of someone else's spotlight then they do not understand why they are there and to Whom the music is directed.

I was once in a liturgy committee meeting (my first and last!) and another choir director mentioned that his members wanted to have a specific "choir time" meditation during Mass so that they could have the spotlight. They also wanted to be up front in the Church, which is what others in the parish wanted too. Everyone there seemed in agreement. But of course, I opened my mouth, and said that if we had the choir up front it would be like a performance and then we would lose the nature of liturgy, that it be directed towards God. Everyone else just put their heads down and looked at their papers, except by the person that told me "ministry comes from the people, from out of the pews, that is what we've always believed." I was so stunned that I just sat there.

I suggest a retreat, led by a good spiritual director priest, to alleviate the problems in the future.

Your problem seems to be both musical and spiritual.

I like the retreat idea, or even a series of visits to choir practice by a priest or other respected person who will, in some way, make clear that envy is a sin, and how do they really expect the Lord to honor their work if they have attitudes like that? Where did they get the idea that the music was about them, or secondarily, about impressing the congregation? There's no place in Holy Scripture that encourages that idea. Music was offered to God, the Audience of One, and then He uses it for His purposes, like Jesus took the little fish and barley loaves and through that gift He fed everyone. There needs to be a spiritual paradigm shift.

If you have standards, some people won't join, others won't stay. I train the ones who are interested, even if they have little chance of being decent singers. That's the spiritual price tag of being a good steward of those the Lord sends - to spend hours on people who might not stay, or who move just when they're a real asset. But I don't encourage people with poor voices to hope for solos (or even be alone on their part) because of the spiritual value of being honest. The truth is, God gave some people better instruments than others and that has to be faced in a culture where everyone is allegedly equal and we have to worry about their self-esteem. Those standards are lies, and music is one of the few places left where you either can or can't do the job when the time comes. Things like pitches and keys have a way of being fixed, no matter how much rationalization you throw at them.

Ironically, people will be angry about your standards but go to a community choir where they have to audition, buy the music and a gown/suit, attend a certain number of rehearsals or not sing the big concert, and respect the conductor (i.e., no talking during rehearsals, start on time), but music offered to God in worship somehow is expected to have lower standards. Years ago I had to completely reform a choir where the community choir people strolled in and ruined it for everyone else. They couldn't make it to our rehearsals, but they couldn't miss the other ones. It caused quite a stir and there were two opinions in the church about it...until the Easter Sunday when the new choir sang (required rehearsals, auditions to explain the requirements and assign parts). Then only the die-hards complained because the difference had them all wide-eyed.

When I come into a new church situation, I make it clear to the Pastor and choir (and they do leave just because you're new) that I require regular rehearsals, and that we will pray before rehearsal and before Masses. I don't have many singers but the ones I have are worth it.