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Every year the International Federation of Pueri Cantores partners with a different Federation around the world to organize a summer Congress for Pueri Cantores choirs. This past July, the 45th International Congress of Pueri Cantores took place in Munich, Germany. Under the motto “Cantate Domino – vielstimmig für den Frieden – #comeandsing”, 4,500 children and youths from 166 choirs from 16 countries united to sing, pray and celebrate together.

The young singers experienced the great and unifying power of music as they joined together for concerts, church services, prayers for peace, singing in social institutions, sharing meals, sightseeing, and bringing beautiful sounds and music to the people of the city of Munich and Bavaria. Five days of inspiring encounters, deeply moving experiences of music and faith and a strong advocacy for international peace and understanding lie behind the participants. Joy and the identity of Pueri Cantores were palpable throughout the whole city. 

The Golden Gate Boys Choirs and Bellringers of Northern California represented the American Federation of Pueri Cantores at the Congress. Choir Director Steven Meyer traveled with his choir of 30 boys and young men, kicking off their 2-week pilgrimage in Lucerne, Switzerland before descending upon Munich for the start of the 45th International Congress of Pueri Cantores. Their pre-Festival activities included solo and joint concerts and Masses in awe-inspiring Cathedrals and churches, along with being welcomed into the homes of local hosts and embracing the richness of the Swiss culture- an invaluable experience for these young choristers.

To learn more about the events that took place at the Congress, click HERE.

To see more photos and videos, click HERE.

Pictured: Golden Gate Boys Choir & Bellringers performing at München Marienplatz for the "Festival of Cultures" at the 45th International Congress of Pueri Cantores in Munich

• It helps to ensure that you have adequate space to store music. A single file cabinet will not be enough for most choirs.  
• A computer database program is immensely helpful to keep track of many songs, the usage, the details about when and where music was purchased.
• Become familiar with the copyright laws, especially regarding PDFs for home rehearsal and digital use, usage of digital downloads of the scores, and the limits of copying music so that the church is always using properly legal copies of music to ensure justice for composers' compensation.
• For a PDF that is scanned for your singers with digital tablets start with a clean copy to make the cleanest copies (at least 600 dpi, works best).
• Have regular meetings with the music librarians about the music, to ensure timely requests for their coordination and distribution of the music. 
• Keep clerical supplies handy (pencils, paper clips, hole punches, labels, etc.)
• Develop a system that works for you, the director AND the choir, and stick with it for at least three years (it will take at least three years to work out the kinks that come in), so that everyone learns and participates well in your library system of organization.
• Be patient with one another. “There are many gifts but the same spirit.” Each one of your team members is great at what they do, or is eager to learn best practices if they are new at their position. If there is a more organized person, team them with a more creative person, and visa versa. Find those with organizational strengths to complement what is needed so that the choir can focus on making great music.

Physical Music Library Organization

• Catalog Everything: Create a spreadsheet or use music cataloging software (for example, Choir Genius, see below) to log each piece with title, composer, voicing, setting, and copyright info.
• Settings can include liturgical season, type of setting (specific masses, concerts, etc.)
• Optionally include “tags” that could help you select appropriate music: “Community”, “funeral”, “sending forth”, etc.
• Maintain copyright compliance.
• Categorize Thoughtfully: Sort music by liturgical season, difficulty level, composer era (e.g., Renaissance, Romantic), etc.
• Label Clearly: Use consistent labeling on folders, shelves, and boxes. Color coding by season or setting can be surprisingly effective.
• Numbering System: Assign each choir member a number, and match that number to their folder, music copies. It’s simple, scalable, and minimizes mix-ups. When music is returned, store it in numerical order according to your numbering system. Make numbers very visible on each piece of music (don’t use pencil).

Digital Music Management

• Digitize Scores: Scan and store music in cloud-based platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox. Use folders by composer, setting, or event (whatever makes sense for your choir)
• Descriptive File Names: Include title, composer, title and optionally other things like voicing or year in filenames for easy searching.
• Use Music Library Software: Tools like those in this list offer searchable databases, tracking, and metadata tagging/management. These applications are “purpose built” for choir management.

Other

• Identify one or two Music Librarians who clearly understand the system and have responsibility for organization, distributing and collecting music.
• Create a rehearsal schedule (with a list of music if possible): Establish a consistent and structured rehearsal schedule to keep the choir on track and ensure everyone is prepared. 
• Maintain clear communication: use various communication tools to keep everyone informed about updates to repertoire, YouTube listening links, etc.  
• Involve members in repertoire selection if possible: engage choir members in the selection of music to foster a sense of ownership and enhance their experience
• Celebrate Contributions: Feature members (especially librarians) in newsletters or social posts to build morale and community.

Prayer

Include a prayer request form in each folder - invite the choir members to hand their prayer requests to the Director or Lead Volunteer. While the Music Librarians and Director are engaged in their repetitive activities, they can pray for the choir members and their intentions. This builds community and faith in a beautiful way.  

Finally, give the gift of gratitude to your leaders! I am grateful to my Music Librarian, Jeffrey Phillips and my Music Library I.T. and Choir Genius Facilitator, Sheila Childs, who assisted me in preparing this article. 

…And over all these things, put on LOVE which binds the rest together. (Col. 3:14)

Choir Organizational Tip brought to you by Dan Girardot, D.Min., Associate Director for Liturgical Music, Office of Worship, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston