Hiring "Ringers"
  • daniel
    Posts: 75
    As I make a list of the music I would like to do in the coming liturgical year, I realize that I won't be able to do it with the current members of the choir. Chances of getting new members are slim as Mass attendance has been dwindling. How much should one expect to pay for "ringers" on a per rehearsal or per Mass basis? I guess one looks in area colleges and universities. Where else might one look? Thank you.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    Try to recruit underclass voice/choral/theater students into a semi-regular choir/schola for free before you start spending money. A lot of students, especially Freshman and Sophomores, will jump at the chance to do good work for free, and you might help facilitate a conversion or a homecoming.

    Since Mass attendance is dwindling, this approach will bring in new people who might become part of your community. They also might bring their friends.

    And in a parish that is dwindling, trying to spend your way into the music you want to be singing is losing proposition.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,220
    I hope you mean undergraduate, or are you thinking of the sociological term "underclass"?
  • Joseph MendesJoseph Mendes
    Posts: 99
    Perhaps he mean underclassmen.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    Underclassmen and underclasswomen, unless you're trying to put together a traditional monophonic schola, in which case only one or t'other.

    But this highlights why I think we need to have logical operators available in written English. "Underclass" modifies the composite noun "voice/choral/theatre students," replacing the second portion of "underclassmen" with a phrase both more specific in discipline and less specific in gender.
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    Depends on where you live. I've gotten by pretty well on $25/call (rehearsal OR performance). Other places, it can get as high as $150 for performance + rehearsal.
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,424
    Foo...
    I thought this was going to be about personell needed for a peal of bells,...
    or carilloneurs and carilloneuses needed for a carillon!
    Thanked by 2chonak CHGiffen
  • WiesOrganista
    Posts: 128
    A "ringer" in the Catholic Church is one who presses the ON button on the Clang-a-tron.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,985
    Be careful what you ask for. A "ringer" can turn out to be a ding-a-ling.
  • ErikaErika
    Posts: 2
    Hi daniel,

    the first church position I ever held as a section leader was back in early 2002, it paid $40 for 1 sunday morning rehearsal plus 1 service immediately following. the church was less than 10 min away from me, so it worked out well at the time. I can't remember where I first saw the job posting, but it could have been craigslist or my college job board. Hope that helps.
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