Home prep needed on Prayer of the Children
Singers always perform better when they understand the stories they tell through song. Although this song is rooted in a specific humanitarian crisis, it also applies to many situations where families are forced to flee for their lives, and “unknown roads lead away from home.” Here is the story of Prayer of the Children, from the composer:
” Over the years, I’ve written many songs with melodies more memorable, lyrics more poetic, and harmonies richer. But none of my compositions has had the kind of reach and emotional effect of Prayer of the Children. Ironically, I never intended to publish the song at all. I wrote it out of frustration over the horrendous civil war and ethnic cleansing taking place in the former country of Yugoslavia.
Link to Kurt Bestor’s website: http://www.kurtbestor.com/story-behind-prayer-of-the-children
YouTube video: https://youtu.be/si4-gOqqlB8
Tips for memorizing the song
Lyrics: The song has three verses each beginning with “Jesus help me … : first time …. ‘see the morning light,’ second time, ‘feel the love again,’ and third time, ‘feel the morning sun.'”
Music: “Can you hear …” is unison the first verse, “Can you feel…” second verse is leads only, and “Can you feel .. ” third verse is unison.
Learning tracks for “I’ll Fly Away” are up on the Hawks Only page
We worked hard on notes in the Tuesday’s rehearsal. If you missed that, spend time between now and next Tuesday with these learning tracks and memorize the song. If you were at the rehearsal, practice what you learned! We’ll only nail the many key changes by working on our own before putting it all together on the risers.
Promote the Gospel Concert
I have sent everyone on the chorus mailing list a PDF flyer promoting the concert, and printed copies were available at rehearsal. Send the PDF to your email contacts that you’d hope to see at the concert. A copy is also available here for download. Print copies to post at your church and share them with your music leaders.
Other promotions underway
We have several other plans for promoting the concert. We will be mailing postcards to those on your client lists this week or early next. We also plan to send the flyers to 62 area senior living units. Finally, we will post the event on Hoopla and Facebook’s free listings and on our website. As always though, the best promotion is your individual invitations.