My choral arrangements and compositions are published in the Music For the Church Year series of the Neil A. Kjos Music Company, as well as with Augsburg Fortress, Concordia Publishing House, and MorningStar Music.
As a working church musician, my goal is to create anthems that can be sung by church choirs of average size, with a range of abilities and ages. I hope that you will find the following information helpful in locating anthems for use with your choir and congregation.
A setting of the much-loved children’s hymn with text by Jaroslav Vajda and tune (Eisenberg) by Carl Schalk. A children’s choir, small group, or soloist may be subsituted or alternated with the soprano section. "Someone Special, I know who: That someone, my God, is you! Who could make a world like this, and a heaven full of bliss. Someone special I must be, since you made it all for me!"
"Advent means to wait, get ready, it's coming!" is the refrain of this children's choir anthem, co-written and arranged with Karla Singer, children's music director at Nativity Lutheran in St. Anthony, Minnesota. A fun piece for the younger set which helps teach the meaning of the Advent season.
Andrae Crouch’s classic gospel song can be used for Christ the King Sunday, as well as a general anthem througout the church year. Crouch’s words express a vision of heaven, with the hopeful reminder that God is with us through our struggles on the earthly journey of faith. My setting uses a straight-ahead driving gospel piano score, with the exuberant refrain punctuated by a bridge section and a solo/ad lib section which can be repeated as needed before returning to the final refrain and ending.
"Spirit of God, descend upon my heart; wean it from earth, through all its pulses move; stoop to my weakness, strength to me impart, and make me love you as I ought to love." The classic 19th century hymn tune Morecambe, on which this choral setting is based, is found in the Lutheran Book of Worship, #486. My setting uses an optional cello part along with flowing piano accompaniment. Well-suited for use in the Lenten season and for Pentecost Sunday, the words of this wonderful prayer are appropriate throughout the church year.
The text to the hymn What a Friend We Have in Jesus is the basis for this gospel style original. Following the second refrain, the individual sections of the choir can be layered one at a time on the repeated line "Take it to the Lord, take it to the Lord, take it to the Lord in prayer", building to the energetic restatement of the refrain with an added optional solo vocal descant part. Traditional choirs, gospel choirs, and youth choirs will enjoy this anthem.
This hymn from Ghana is found in in the hymnal This Far by Faith, published by Augsburg Fortress. Centered around the theme "That priceless grace is life for me," the third verse focuses on the cross, "That painful death took sin away," making this a fine anthem for Holy Week. Effectively used for Lent/Holy Week as well as the Easter season.
"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine." This arrangement of the classic Sunday School song, for children's choir or small ensemble with descant, has a gospel piano accompaniment and can be used throughout the church year.
This piece is fairly short in length, and is designed to be a "shout of joy" at the beginning of the Easter morning service. It can also be used as an anthem between scripture readings or as an offertory anthem. The organ part is for manuals only until the last couple bars, when the pedal enters for the final chords. Brass parts included with choral score.
This anthem was commissioned by St. John’s Presbyterian Church in Devon, Pennsylvania, in honor of the ministry of its pastor and family. The text is based on I Peter 2, and can be used in the Epiphany season or for general use.
My arrangement of this well-known tune by Per Harling features a samba piano score with percussion. Women's and men's voices trade back and forth on melody and counter-melody before the verse and refrain are combined with one another, heading toward an energetic finish. Add the optional violin/C instrument part for a little extra seasoning!