An Invitation

Hey Everyone,


For those of you who may still be checking this blog and looking for a way to connect with me in the future, I want to invite you to my personal ministry blog, www.middlebrained.com.  This blog chronicles my life as an Arts Ministry leader who balances logic and creativity in an effort to honor God in my local church. I post the music sets from our worship experiences each week, music and book reviews, leadership convictions and lessons I'm learning, as well as occasional other thoughts that I hope will encourage, challenge, and inform my church and the broader worship leadership community.


For your awareness, the 1000 voice choir blog will be closed on November 1, 2009.  Thanks again for an amazing worship experience at the 60th Anniversary Celebration Concert!

In Memoriam

"On Saturday I had the honor of singing with a 1000 voice choir (which included members of the Union Gospel Mission Choir) for the 60th anniversary of KTIS Radio and in addition we were background singers for Michael W. Smith. It was one of the greatest experiences in my life, the fellowship, the word spoken, the talent of all the acts, the choir's beautiful performance, and best of all the holy presence of God.  No words can describe how it felt to be surrounded by His presence for several hours, it was amazing!" - Sandy Ulrich, Union Gospel Mission

This was written about 10 hours before Sandy died unexpectedly of a heart attack in the parking lot while going to her night class at the St. Paul Tech College.  She had first been a client at the Mission, graduated, and come back to work in the Union Gospel Mission HR Department as a well-loved and trusted friend.  She was in her early 40’s and leaves 3 children and one grandson.

THANK YOU

On behalf on the entire 60th anniversary team, I want to thank each and every one of you for taking part in last night's concert!  There's no doubt that it was a very very special night and Michael W Smith (along with all of the other artists and band members) wanted me to make sure you knew what a treat it was to have you there.


On a personal note ... thank you so much for being willing to participate and for making this experience such a special one for me.  Like all of you, I'm simply a servant who was called to a local church and I spend my weeks trying to craft worship experiences that I hope will help our congregation connect with God meaningfully in worship.  


This was an honor and privilege for me - one I will likely never forget.  You've all been such a blessing to me.  I appreciate your words of kindness and want to encourage each of you to continue serving faithfully as a part of your local churches.  God is using you to accomplish His purposes here on earth and we will likely never know the extent to which He uses us for His honor and glory.


Thanks again everyone - God's richest blessings to you!


Serving Together,


Dan Leverence
Creative Arts Pastor
Constance Free Church

College Students

If you are a student from Bethel or North Central University that signed up to sing in the 1000 voice choir, you should have received a confirmation email from me today.  If you did not receive it, please leave a comment on this post or click here to email me right away.

A Meal Option

In case you're interested in a quick and convenient option for a meal on Saturday, the owners of the Wing Stand near section 116 have agreed to open early for the convenience of choir members.

For Your Awareness

I've received several emails asking if family members (particularly children) will be allowed to observe the rehearsal on Saturday. Unfortunately, this is not permitted and to avoid any awkward interactions with security, please do not attempt to bring family members with you into the arena for rehearsal/sound check.

Run of Show

Many of you have asked about the order, timing, or what we refer to as the "run of show" for the concert so that you can make plans for child care, rides, etc.  According to the Run of Show, the concert is scheduled to wrap up around 9:00 pm.  I have never been to a concert that ended on schedule, so I would plan on it ending later when communicating with babysitters, etc (also considering you'll have to get to your cars and contend with traffic on the way out).

October 3 Details

Happy Friday Everyone! We have a lot of new details regarding next Saturday's big concert:

• Choir should register in the lobby between 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm by Gate 1. This is considered the “main” entrance and is next to the box office. YOU MUST BE REGISTERED BY 1:30 PM - please give yourself extra time to ensure that you have adequate time for check-in.
• Choir members CAN bring in their OWN water ONLY (but no other food or drink).  You must leave the water under your seats after the sound check because you will not be permitted to bring water into the arena once the general public has arrived when the gates open at 5:00 pm.  If you want to bring in 2 or 3 bottles and leave them at your seat, that's fine.

The schedule for the entire day looks like this:

• 12:30 pm - Registration opens
• 1:30 pm - Registration closes and will NOT re-open
• 2:00 pm - Sound check for the two 1000-voice choir featured songs
• 3:00 pm - Break
• 3:30 - 4:30 pm - Rehearsal with Michael W Smith
• 4:30 - 5:45 pm - Dinner break
• 5:45 pm - You MUST be IN YOUR SEATS in the area, ready for the concert to begin
• 6:00 pm - Concert begins

Special note:  When the sound checks are over, you can either stay in the arena in the area around your seats (security will not permit you to go to other levels or back & forth, in & out of the arena) or you may leave the arena and then enter when the gates open at 5:00 pm.

Carpooling

Many of you have asked about carpooling options for Saturday, October 3. Unfortunately, the complexity of trying to organize something of that magnitude is not something that our leadership team can tackle. However, this post is designated as a place that you all can talk about getting together to carpool. Feel free to use the comments section for discussion.

GREAT Rehearsal!

I just wanted to say THANK-YOU for a great rehearsal today choir!  You are a tremendous group of people and I consider it an honor to lead you.  Though completely exhausted (I barely slept last night in anticipation), I left our rehearsal more excited than you can imagine and managed to retain my enthusiasm straight through our worship service at Constance Free Church tonight.  I can't wait to see you again on October 3 and (as promised) will post updates as soon as they become available.


Several of you asked if I'd be willing to post some of the vocal techniques we talked about today during our rehearsal.  I've actually posted this on my own personal/ministry blog so feel free to visit www.middlebrained.com if you'd like to read more.


See you soon!

Michael W Smith Demos

Thanks to Michael W Smith's team, downloadable demos for the songs in his concert set are now available online.  We have posted the mp3s in a password-protected area and in order to access the files, you will need the username and password which was given to you at the mass choir rehearsal on Saturday, September 19.


Click here to access the demos.


If you've forgotten the username and password, you may click here to email Dan Leverence.

Michael W Smith Concert Set

Thanks for your patience everyone.  We heard from Michael W Smith today and are excited to post the following songs that he will sing with the 1000 voice choir.  Printed music is not available for these songs and we will talk through more logistics on Saturday during the mass choir rehearsal.


THE RIVER IS RISING
DANCE IN THE RIVER
A NEW HALLELUJAH 
MIGHTY TO SAVE 
SHOUT UNTO GOD 
HERE I AM TO WORSHIP 
ABOVE ALL 
GRACE 
HEALING RAIN 
AGNUS DEI
HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD
GOD OF THIS CITY

Ticket Discounts

Discounted tickets are available for friends and family of choir members.  Visit www.xcelenergycenter.com/KTIS for $5.00 off $23 or $15 tickets and enter the promo code "CHOIR" when prompted.


If you have a group of people from your church that would like to attend the concert, there is a special discount on group tickets!  For groups of 10 or more, call 651-312-3486 for discounts on select seats.


Also, don't forget to use the marketing materials we've provided to get your church excited about the concert!

Demos

Your wish is my command! Well ... not always ... BUT, I did want to let you know that we were able to scratch out demos for the two featured choir songs thanks to Scott Campbell, our Arts Ministry Associate at Constance Free Church! We hope they're helpful to you.


Click here to download rehearsal demos for both 1000 Voice Choir Featured Songs.

Marketing Materials

Ministry Leaders - does your church know that your musicians are participating in the KTIS 60th Anniversary Celebration Concert? We've assembled a few resources to help you get the word out to them!

Click here to download a suggested announcement for use in participating churches' weekend program/bulletins.

Click here to download a promotional slide in standard format.

Click here to download a promotional slide in widescreen format.

Featured Music (Part 2)

As promised, here's the link to the second of the featured songs for the mass choir! God Of This City will follow For The Time That's Still To Come ... make sure you take the time to practice both songs in preparation for our rehearsal on September 19. I look forward to seeing you all very soon!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD "GOD OF THIS CITY."

Featured Music (Part 1)

I'm excited to post the first of two featured 1000-voice choir songs. This is an original song that was written for the 60th anniversary of KTIS, specifically for the mass choir. Please make sure that you download and practice this song in preparation for the October 3 concert event. The choir arrangement of the second song (God of This City) will be posted soon!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD "FOR THE TIME THAT'S STILL TO COME."

Special Note: We will rehearse the choir-only songs (along with the Michael W Smith songs) during the September 19 rehearsal at Maranatha Hall. Both featured songs must be memorized for the performance.

Updates

Hey everyone! Here are some other pieces of information that are helpful and important for you:

1. The dress code for the 1000 voice choir has been established. All choir participants should wear black pants and a solid colored shirt.  Do not wear white shirts and please avoid reflective, dangling jewelry.

2. The leadership team for the 60th anniversary event is working with the St Paul Chamber of Commerce to create discount packages for the families of choir members. We'd like to make the experience as easy as possible and thought it would be nice if families could still ride together to the concert. We're hoping that the Chamber will be able to provide discount coupons for local restaurants and attractions for families to enjoy while choir participants are rehearsing on October 3. More info will follow as it's available.

3. We still have not received word from Michael as to how he will utilize the choir. We're hoping that he'll be able to make this decision soon but has been on a European concert tour until recently. Check back soon for updates.

4. You should expect to see the two Featured Songs for the 1000-voice choir posted on this blog by mid to late August. We're putting the finishing touches on them now. These two songs will need to be memorized. They're both very simple, so rest assured that this is not a daunting task.

Important Reminders

1. The concert is on Saturday, October 3rd at the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St Paul. Choir participants will receive free admission to the concert.

2. The choir will be singing a number of songs with Michael W. Smith in addition to two featured songs earlier in the concert. Updates about music and its availability will be posted on this blog.

3. There will be a MANDATORY rehearsal for ALL participants on Saturday, September 19 from 9:00 am - 12 noon at Maranatha Hall on the campus of Northwestern College in St Paul.

4. The schedule for October 3 is still in process. Please keep your schedule free for this day considering that you may be required to be at rehearsal(s) for a good portion of the day. I will post additional info regarding the schedule for concert day as soon as it's available.

Welcome To The 1000-Voice Choir!

Hello everyone - and welcome to the 1000 voice choir!

The team of leaders and coordinators for this event is very excited about the unique opportunity to have a 1000-Voice Choir from the Twin Cities participating as part of the KTIS 60th Anniversary Celebration Concert! I'm looking forward to meeting each of you who serve faithfully in the worship ministries of your church.

We have set up this blog as a way to keep leaders and participants up-to-date with the most current information we have related to the 1000 voice mass choir. Please check back frequently as information will be updated as it becomes available.