In some ways Sunday, June 13, will be a typical mid-June Sunday for St. Mary’s. Our Joyful Noise choir will perform their final piece for the ’20-’21 program year. They will sing, virtually, Everybody’s Got a Place in the Choir for the pre-recorded service. Mid-June is usually the time when we wrap up our program year and celebrate the accomplishments of our children and youth ministries. A lot about Sunday, June 13, will not be typical by St. Mary’s standards. The fact that our Joyful Noise choir is performing via video is one obvious difference. Another difference is that on that Sunday we will be saying “Thank You” to Carrie Peil as she steps away from the role of Joyful Noise Choir Director.
You may have noticed that I used the term “Thank You” instead of “Goodbye.” That was quite intentional. When I called Carrie to interview her about her time as Joyful Noise Choir Director she made it very clear that she is not saying “Goodbye” to St. Mary’s or our music program. Carrie’s full time job has her quite busy these days, and she has just taken on a huge additional project. It was clear to Carrie that while she loves leading our Joyful Noise choir, she needed to put something down in order to reach her overall goals. This is a new chapter for Carrie, and there will be a chapter after this project is completed. As Carrie said to me “I do music because I love it, and see myself coming back.”
When asked what was her favorite thing about leading Joyful Noise choir, Carrie spoke of the “Aha! moment” when a singer discovers their voice. Maybe they’ve been singing for years, but when they have that moment, when they own their talent, it’s beautiful. Everything changes.
The accomplishment Carrie is proudest of is how (pre-pandemic) Joyful Noise choir learned how to manage their hymnals, process, stand in the choir loft, and overall behave as a liturgical choir. It’s a different skill set to manage the full in-service experience.
The pandemic changed everything about how we do ministry at St. Mary’s. As we realized that we need to physically isolate to slow the spread of COVID-19, we faced many challenges, and how to be a choir was a big question. When talking about how we got from there to here, Carrie remembers emailing Bingham and saying “Okay, I think I know how to do this. I think I can do this.” And, if you have watched any of the services in which Joyful Noise choir has participated, you know that Carrie did know how! Working from home was more work. Rehearsals are different. Learning to produce the performance virtually was a big learning curve. Carrie credits her son, Liam, with helping her make it happen. The children and their families were also vital for the success. Children sent Carrie recordings of themselves singing and Liam took those recordings and mixed them together. What they created was beautiful! Parishioners have commented on how meaningful these performances have been to them. For many parishioners it was particularly delightful since they had previously attended a service that did not include the Joyful Noise choir.
As we wrapped up our interview, I asked Carrie what one thing she’d like St. Mary’s parishioners to know about Joyful Noise choir. “I look at Joyful Noise choir as the future of music ministry of the parish. Right now we have an awesome core of Joyful Noise singers and they are young. There is some incredible talent and potential for the next person to work with, and I will be there to cheer them on.”
Carrie has been a gift to St. Mary’s and our Joyful Noise choir. We will greatly miss her leadership. It is a comfort to know - as we begin to gather again, we will get to spend time with her as a parishioner. Also, there are many ways to be involved in music at St. Mary’s. As Carrie settles into this new chapter of her story, she knows that she will look for ways to be involved musically.
Thank you, Carrie, for sharing your many gifts with us. We look forward to seeing where this next chapter leads you. As it happens, Carrie’s final Sunday as St. Mary’s Joyful Noise choir director is the date of our first St. Mary’s at the Park in-person church service at Lively Park in Springfield. If you join us for that service, you will get a chance to thank Carrie in person. See our in person registration page for details.
