What is a reasonable budget for a parish music program?
  • tomboysuzetomboysuze
    Posts: 289
    This would not include the Director of Music's salary...that's separate.
    It would include:
    1 Vigil mass/organist & cantor for now
    4 Sunday masses - w/two choirs - English/Spanish
    Weekly program is optional
    Organ is (awful) small, electric, two register - but will do for a bit - however it needs to be moved to the choir loft.
    One weekly rehearsal for both choirs w/legal copies
    Probably a GIA license
    part-time stipend for a student - librarian
    ? whatever I've forgotten

    Any ballpark figure will help. Many thanks.

  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,310
    I have put no thought into this. It is purely shooting from the hip. I'm treating this situation like it is a parish with a modest budget.

    Does the Director of Music play the organ? Cantor? Are they present at all of the Masses? I guess I'm figuring this budget based on the assumption that all of this is "a la carte"

    1 Vigil Mass...$75 for organist + $45 for cantor=$120 total
    4 Sunday Masses...$75 for organist + $45 for cantor x 4 Masses =$480 total
    Weekly program...$0 (let's keep the budget low!)
    Organ...$1,000 per year for minimal, basic maintenance (perhaps you can get by with less here, given that it is an electronic instrument)
    2 weekly rehearsals (1 for each choir)...$100 for director x 2=$200 total
    GIA License...$0 (don't reprint music--use the hymnals you have)
    Stipend for librarian...$100 per month x 9 months=$900 total (is there really no volunteer who can help with this, or can the Director of Music not do this?)
    PURCHASED MUSIC...$500 would probably be sufficient
    CONTINUING EDUCATION...$500 would probably be sufficient

    This all adds up to...$40,100

    I'm assuming 52 weeks per year, 30 weeks of choir rehearsals

    -----------------------------------------------------

    If I've made bad assumptions, forgive me. I'd have a lot of questions to ask, based on your first post, to really gain an understanding of your situation. A lot of this stuff depends wildly on your location, parish size, number of competent volunteers, what your Director of Music's responsibilities are, etc.
    Thanked by 1tomboysuze
  • There are a lot of variables here....

    First, does the DoM play the organ as well? If so, the role of organist is probably part of their salary. If not, your location will matter as to what the organist is paid. If you are in a small, rural area, you're probably paying someone who plays as a hobby...so $50-75 a service. Otherwise, you're probably looking at around $100-$150 per service. If you are paying one person to play five Masses, you might just want to work out some sort of salary. I generally pay someone per "service"...not liturgical service, but service rendered....that means rehearsal too...how you arrange that will be totally dependent on your location and your organist. Again, if you've got a midweek rehearsal as well as five services that someone is playing for, it's going to be beneficial to the parish to work up a salary.

    As for cantors, I rarely think a cantor has to be a classically trained singer. Rather, someone with a pleasant voice usually does fine. You will probably be able to find a volunteer that would be able to accomplish the task very well.

    Your library costs will depend on what type of music you sing. Since so much of the music of the masters is available on cpdl.org, I rarely purchase sheet music. So, the cost of any music you sing simply depends on what sort of contract you have with your copy machine company and the cost of paper and ink. Same goes with any weekly program you'd want to do. Consult with the parish bookkeeper. He/She will most likely have the per page figures.

    Even with a terrible organ, you'll need to maintain it so it doesn't go from being a terrible organ to a non-functional organ (unless, of course, that's what you want to happen :-)). Not knowing exactly what instrument you have or its condition, I would expect you'd need to plan for $500 to $1000 in maintenance for the instrument....others are most welcome to correct me if I'm wrong about that.

    I have no idea what a GIA license costs.

    If you're bringing in a student, I would pay them minimum wage. If they are a music student, perhaps it could be supplemented with college credit or choral scholar work....such as conducting the choir in your absence or conducting at a rehearsal and on a Sunday that you're their, followed by you evaluating them. There's a lot of ways to pay a student that may be more valuable to them then just cash (although cash is good too...)

    Do you foresee any additional musicians that will need to be contracted out (brass or strings or additional singers for Christmas/Easter/Major celebrations)?

    Honestly, not counting my own salary, I'm able to run my program for a very, very reasonable cost. It's a complete fallacy that running a quality music program is cost prohibitive. Particularly these days, when so many resources are available online for only the cost of printing them (and then, of course, they can be reused), saying a good music program is just too expensive is a complete cop-out. As long as you have a supportive pastor, a willing congregation, and a music director of reasonable competence, you can have a great program for very little money.

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  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,310
    Agreeing with Adam Schwend!

    If you don't factor in my salary, I am able to run the program for a very small amount of money. I almost always sing and play at the same time. I conduct (as best I can) and play at the same time during rehearsals. I pay section leaders a very modest stipend, and use largely public domain/creative commons music.

    This can be done, so long as the pastor is on board and that the parish can afford a reasonable salary for a qualified musician who is interested in high-quality music-making.
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  • tomboysuzetomboysuze
    Posts: 289
    So sorry - let me clarify and thank you so much for your time.
    The director (me) does not play - severe tendonitus - , but will manage the parish music program and be giving a series of classes in the evening to the current choir members to help hone their skills and work with them on site singing, ear training, score marking, etc. It's a very diverse parish with a lot of nationalities - so this is designed to help develop average skill levels and bring the communities together to help form relationships between parishioners who are currently not "in harmony."
    The parish is in a Major US City -DC - and the pastor has already established a stipend for the organist of $100 per liturgy. (It may have to go up as the current rate ranges to $150.)
    Section leaders aren't currently in the plan, but that may change.
    I don't know if a license is needed, but I'm assuming there is NO choral library. I'll be moving my own library over - but I'll want to legally use copies if necessary. So, I have to research that.

    Weekly programs would be simple, but allow the choir to sing from a wide repertoire.
    I'm gathering information because I've been asked to submit a proposal for a job I didn't apply for, but was offered.

    It's very tempting because the Pastor is somewhat manic about good music and a proven fundraiser (he built two churches in Portugal - one with the 2nd largest carillon in Europe!) He's also a solid, friendly man with a deep and obvious prayer life. The parish is entrusted to Communion Liberation - and he's a CL priest.

    I ran a music program for a historic church in DC some years ago - on a shoestring - and had a lot of success. I'm just trying to get an idea of what other's programs are like and any information on doing a budget....which I don't necessarily enjoy.

    Thanks so much for your help.
  • tomboysuzetomboysuze
    Posts: 289
    p.s. I should have said that when I met with the Pastor, I suggested that I'd calculate a budget based on what I could do for the lowest possible cost. He kindly instructed me to "please not do that" but give him the cost for a high quality music program and let him worry about the money. No priest has ever said that to me...and I've worked for quite a few. Maybe all this is a pipe dream and won't work at all, but at this point, I'm so intrigued that I can't say no. ( I also suggested the we work on developing a little "choir school" for the parish since there is no grade school and there is a small building with classrooms. He was very excited about that idea and clearly there are many possibilities if things go well. My philosophy is start small, pray a lot and see what God wants.
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,310
    How's this going, tomboysuze?
  • As long as he's worrying about the money, and you're in DC, I say go for trained singers as cantors- perhaps they can double as section leaders in choir.

    I'd put a priority on that (over a librarian stipend, license, etc) if you are building a choir or fixing and building an existing choir. And I think it's great you're giving choral singers lessons.

    Perhaps you'd be better off hiring an organist parttime on salary? That has worked well for us. On the other hand, if you start with more piecemeal work, you can get an idea of who you prefer to work with as colleague and supervisor.
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  • Marc Cerisier
    Posts: 529
    At a parish I worked in when I was younger, the budget was $10,000 plus salaries (secretary, staff cantor/handbell director, organist, another organist, and the director). That figure covered purchasing music, recordings, choral subscriptions, hiring instrumentalists, having cantor and choir parties, reprint licenses, snacks for after children's choir, and numerous other expenses).
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  • Adam Schwend
    Posts: 203
    I'm going to second what Marc and MaryAnn are saying. $10,000 is probably pretty close to a reasonable budget, no counting salaries. However, if you want to spend money to get the most improvement for your buck, spend it on singers. The staff singers will improve the choir almost instantly (if you get good ones), which will improve the view the parish and pastor have of the music program, thus starting a very positive cycle of wanting to spend more money on and give more attention to it. If you pay singers $50 a Mass and have one leader per section, you're paying $8,000 per year (40 weeks per year). That is, of course, quite modest and doesn't include payment for a rehearsal. However, a great way to supplement that payment is partnering with a local college or university to create a choral scholar program. This is a big benefit to you, in that you get strong singers for your program, but it's also a big benefit to the students. If you work things out right, you can turn it into an internship for credit, they get a small stipend for beer (let's be honest...), and they get an education in being a church musician. Something I've often bemoaned of vocal performance majors is that 80% of them will end up being a church music director at some point in their lives, and 80% of that 80% have no experience in how to do it.

    It's a win-win.

    Adam S.
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  • Seconding what Adam said. Money spent on good dependable section leaders is money well-spent. It has been my experience that the volunteers really appreciate the trained section leaders. I am also a firm believer in choral-scholars, budget permitting.
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  • tomboysuzetomboysuze
    Posts: 289
    Hey everyone, thanks so much for the suggestions. I agree, my budget is going to section leaders first and foremost - AND I've just negotiated a salaried position for the organist as well. We're keeping the salaries artificially low for now - which I know is dangerous - but I'm putting a clause for a "fair wage review" after the first year in all the contracts and the Pastor concurs. So, we'll see.
    @ irishtenor - It's been a bit of a wait, but myself and my "staff" are about to take over next week. We are tweaking and figuring out things for a month- holding a "choral meet and greet" for all parishioners interested in joining "THE" choir. Then we'll start classes/rehearsals over the summer with whomever is available and begin with the choral program in early September. Thanks for asking!
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    If you're careful, you can minimise costs by using stuff that it out of copyright or from the various online databases of free music.
  • E_A_FulhorstE_A_Fulhorst
    Posts: 381
    All the best music is in the public domain anyway. Even if your pastor is allergic to chant, a very solid repertoire could be made using just time-tested hymns. (Isn't that the idea of the Musica Sacra hymnal that's eventually coming out?)
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,310
    Do you mean CC Watershed's Vatican II Hymnal? That contains a solid repertoire of time-tested hymns & is readily available right now!
  • E_A_FulhorstE_A_Fulhorst
    Posts: 381
    Well --- I had thought the powers that be had intended to collate English Hymns in the Commons into a proper hymnbook, but I suppose I'm mistaken.

    (Incidentally, Hymns in the Commons would be a great name for a hymnal.)
  • What is the going rate for a first-rate church custodian these days?
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  • Well --- I had thought the powers that be had intended to collate English Hymns in the Commons into a proper hymnbook, but I suppose I'm mistaken.

    At first, yes, but as it progressed it became obvious to some (maybe just me?) that the more hymns that were added the more objections arose as to what should and should not be in a Catholic hymnal.

    So the market for such a book has not been clearly defined.