A Fresh Perspective

For starters, my name is David Walker and I am a consultant for Ecclesiastical Consulting.  My bio has been briefly outlined already by Father Michael, so lets talk about what we can do for your church music ministry.  Ecclesiastical consulting has a vested interest in all sides of the well-being and quality of worship in the Orthodox Church in America.  I work specifically with the musical systems, training, and performance that are such a vital part to the liturgical life of the Orthodox Church and your community.

Sometimes, even as a trained Western and Byzantine musician, it strikes me just how much of our services are sung.  It is constant!  Moreover, it would seem that if there is so much demand of one skill, that the skill needs much attention.  Yet, as I travel and visit other churches, I see many communities that put too little concentration on the musical organization, training, and performance (OTP) of church music.  It is this relationship between the demands of the church and the OTP that brings me here.  I want to help you bridge the sometimes seemingly insurmountable gap between the churches musical needs, and your musical offerings.

It is also important to realize that since there is so much importance in church music, that its mishandling can sometimes pull a church apart.  I have been in several situations, of which I will comment about more in some future posts, that ended very poorly.  I have also been a part of some truly wonderful collaborations.  In addition to the OTP needs of your community, I can offer one-on-one and group mediations that can keep your community intact and thriving.  Being a grandson and son-in-law to priests, I identify with priests quite well, and their vision for liturgical worship can come more efficiently to fruition through some of these mediations.  I want to help in any way I can!

As far as this blog goes, I will be posting once a week about varieties of topics that you will find useful to your musical output.  There will be some, such as the next one, that target specific social, cultural, or global issues that affect musical decisions in the USA.  Other entries will deal with specific performance topics ranging from how to keep choir members, to balance and blending exercises.

However, before we get into specifics about the music, we must better understand the cultural identities of the Orthodox church in America, and how that knowledge affects our current liturgical music culture  Next time, we will take Staten Island, The Sopranos, and family ancestry to lay a foundation for making the right musical decisions for your liturgical music community.

Until next time, find me on facebook or twitter @dwalkmusic!