I would say one thing that is a must for me would be having rules for rehearsal. Something like:

1. Follow instructions the first time they are given.

2. No talking unless you have raised your hand and been called on.

3. Be prepared to begin rehearsal on time.

2 and 3 are particularly important to me, as it effectively cuts down on people interrupting and/or hijacking your rehearsal to suit their own perceived needs, and not those of the choir as a whole.

I would add the following to that:

4. Do not ask for a transposition: the music is neither too high nor too low; it is exactly how the composer wants it to be.

5. Do not whine about not having the melody.

6. No, I don't do requests.

In terms of dealing with the pastor: it's like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get. This is because you could get a pastor who is completely sympathetic to your needs, and wants to help you, or you could get one that couldn't care less if there was even music performed for Mass, and the choir exists solely because there are people in it still. You really can't go against the pastor if he's not on your side. There isn't much you can do to put him on your side, either, because pastors, like all administrative types, have their own priorities, and the best you can do is appeal to them. If the pastor is overly concerned with congregational singing, then getting him to support something would require you showing how it would improve (most likely increase, administrative types tend to be quantity driven vs. quality driven) congregational singing. You just have to figure out what makes him tick, and then manipulate the semantics to appeal to it.

What I'd like to see is how do you deal with what Thomas Day calls the "Mr. Carusos" of the musicians: those big-voiced "cantors" with big personalities that take up a lot of your space and time, and think that everything either is or should be about them.

#2 is in there for a reason: I've had the experience with choir members who just blurt out their questions and try to compete with each other for rehearsal attention. Even to the point of bypassing me and asking the organist to just go over a certain section with them. That is why #2 is in there. Some of those "divas" think that when you stop, you should focus on them first: "To hell with the rest of the choir, you can help them later: I need help NOW!"

I have mentioned this before, but my organist is addicted to the transposer. Having perfect pitch and trying to sight read with that stupid thing just makes things so hard...

#2 is better used in a larger choir, but in a small group of maybe 14 or 15 on a good day I see it run the way that CharlesW has it.

Also, a prayer before mass and before practice keeps a nice tone, and maybe an organ prelude as singers are gathering before practice.

This is interesting, I have the issue of calling on professional singers to come and sing for the occasional scratch choir that doesn't rehearse every week.
I make recordings for them to rehearse to. I give them sheet music in advance to look at because I get one rehearsal to actually learn it with them. Just one.
I'm curious to know how I get them to look at the music before they get to the rehearsal. They are paid to look at it and given plenty of time and still it becomes a huge mess of me trying to note bash.

Thanks yeah, they get paid and according to the musicians union wages.

Having perfect pitch and trying to sight read with that stupid thing just makes things so hard...

4. Do not ask for a transposition: the music is neither too high nor too low; it is exactly how the composer wants it to be.

These are great arguments for C-clefs. The more I work on transcribing the Isaac propers, the more fond I become of these transposing clefs.
I usually go 1 voice at a time, and then hit playback, listening while singing the part off the original to make sure it corresponds correctly to what I put into Finale.

As for #4, if it's a more recent transposition, that may be the case - but for pieces like those in the Choralis Constantinus I-III, and pieces from that time, the versions available in modern notation can be and probably are in a different "key" than/already transposed from what the composer or choir originally had in mind. Oftentimes, to have an SATB version requires stupidly-high soprano parts that are seriously unnecessary in the context of an actual Mass. Sure, some sopranos "like it high," while others think, "wow, this is really unnecessary," why can't the altos be a bit less whiny about their "low" notes.

Anyway, I think that choirs need to work more towards being able to read c-clefs and f-clefs.

This is going to be a great one, Mary Jane! Glad you're doing it.

I like to run a pretty tight ship and (even with less skilled singers) tend to ask a lot, so I try to bridge the gap by providing social events, encouragement via phone or email, and offers of out-of-rehearsal practice appointments, etc. I also try to keep rehearsal light, but not disorganized.

@Kevin
I would love to be your chorister! lol

Then there is sheet music management. I always get a few copies of "O Holy Night" turned in during July. Why not earlier? Who knows. Choir members can be packrats with music and shuffle it here and there to the point they no longer actually know what they have. I have one gentleman getting up in years, who will take a copy of what we are rehearsing each week. He already has 4 or 5 copies of the same in his folder. I have to do folder raids periodically and remove the excess copies. When I find I am short on copies of a particular anthem when I ordered 10 more copies than I have choir members, I know something is amiss. LOL.

LOL

Then there is sheet music management.

I often fantasize about getting one of those office-mail systems with 100 or so slots and putting every motet and polyphonic ordinary we will sing for the year in its own numbered slot and letting the choir do their own filing.

This should be a wonderful session! And perhaps some overlap with the discussion we had back in 2013.

A few things I'll add to the discussion thus far:

1. Humor, lightness and fun go a LONG way in keeping people engaged. When they're no longer enjoying the experience, they'll just drop away. Or worse yet, continue to be involved while making life miserable for everyone else.

2. I had some success in using different color paper to help people keep their books organized. This especially helped people to see which parts they should keep from week to week, and which ones to turn in or recycle.

3. Having a schedule well in advance really helps, especially if you're not singing every week. With my schola I made sure to have dates scheduled about 4 months in advance, and the music would be decided about one month before singing. Life's not perfect, but if you can get 95% of things stable, people will become more reliable.

Carl

Apparently s/he thinks s/he's operating under an oppressive, racist bully.

Shocked! Shocked I say. Is outrage!!!!

My rule number one for new conductors is:

Don't be afraid to take charge and mean it. Some people try too hard to let everyone have their say vis. the interpretation of a piece, and that doesn't work (in groups larger than an octet) and wastes time at rehearsals. Don't let people tell you what to do, you are the director. And it doesn't matter if you get to the podium and find that Helmuth Rilling is one of your choir members; you're still the director, don't let him interrupt and try to tell you what to do, in fact, as a matter of professional courtesy, no director sitting in a group directed by someone else will dare to even think to tell the director they are under what to do. (Though if you are new and you do happen to find Helmuth Rilling in your choir you should ask him if he has any words of wisdom!)

Thanks for posting this. I had to look up some info because I had Brouwers confused with a chubby organist of note. Not the same person at all.

The Bugs Leopold is a classic.

Because there was no demand for surrender?
"Take your time, we will wait while you look."

Not true. They were asked to turn it in but didn't. Even given time to do it. It is possible one or two may not have been there that evening. The choristers have numbers they have had for anywhere from 20 to 40 years, depending on the person. I don't know who assigned them but it was before my time. Choir members are territorial about those numbers and unwilling to surrender or change them. With deaths and members going elsewhere, there are gaps in the numbers and the whole system needs to be done over. It would be a huge fight and not worth it. I found one no longer with us member, kept a complete collection of pieces she had sung over the years at her home. After she went on to her eternal reward, someone turned them in. It's all crazy.

Not only are those numbers sacrosanct, those individual copies have markings in them. Should someone not get, "their number," they of course cannot sing without their markings. Those markings came from every director the choir has had over the years. Since directors don't interpret pieces the same way, sometimes the markings conflict. The younger folks in the choir think the whole thing is hilarious and entertaining.

Now do you understand why I think IMSLP is the greatest thing in music over the last several hundred years? When they lose copies, mark them to the point even they can no longer read them, or hoard copies creating shortages, it is wonderful to go to IMSLP and print more copies. We certainly don't have the money to replace the choral library.

My rule number one for new conductors is:

Don't be afraid to take charge and mean it. Some people try too hard to let everyone have their say vis. the interpretation of a piece, and that doesn't work (in groups larger than an octet) and wastes time at rehearsals

Good advice. I had this exact problem with my first schola.

Always have a pencil in your hand. If not, one will be provided to you upon request.
You should have your music in hand before we start the rehearsal.
Rehearsals start on time...not five minutes later.etc.
Rehearsals end on time unless we all agree otherwise.
I decide the music..do not question. You may complain, but thats it.

Good Stuff, as Shaw once said to Wagner!

Never worked with solfege for the singers; they learned by rote. Fortunately, music-readers were scattered throughout my choirs, which helped immensely. The 'count-it-out' thing is Shavian; I just asked my people to always sub-divide the beat when singing. (For very nasty rhythmic stuff, we did go to count-it-out.)

As to music distribution/collection: we had a library of all the music in file cabinets in the rehearsal room (or choir loft, whichever.) AND I always had a volunteer librarian. The music to be rehearsed was distributed at the rehearsal and collected immediately thereafter; same for the music for Sunday. No music ever went home, nor did it remain in a choir member's folder. EVER. The octavo-sized music was kept in 8X12 envelopes; the larger books (e.g., Gradual) were simply put into the cabinets/file drawers. And the music was numbered so the folks always got their own markings back.

Choir members always were interested in "why" composer Joe Blow wrote the line that way and for the most part that was information we endeavored to give them. We ran tightly scheduled, 2 hours, with a 15 minute break halfway through. (Less time and zero break for the group which sang Chant only, and only 1x/month.)

After only two seasons the "Christmas singers" got the hint (we asked them to leave and come back in January so they could participate through the entire choir year.)

Always had friendly banter and cheesy puns at hand, but when necessary, the Hairy Eyeball was administered liberally. Used all the tried-and-true vocalization remedies, hammered unified vowels.

Seemed to work. No one shot me.