I think that's true in general, but I know of one church that operates with a mostly volunteer choir and they sound great. They're fortunate in that they have three or four really strong singers, paid a nominal amount as "lead singers." And they are especially fortunate in their choir director, Jim Peterson.

It's Jim who really makes the difference. He's a semi-professional singer himself (tenor), along with being an excellent all-around musician—keyboards, piano and organ. Every Thursday evening he holds free singing classes at the church, and he coaches choir members—and anyone else in the congregation who wishes to attend—in such things as breath support, voice placement, singing without tension. And he manages to give a fair amount of individual attention to each singer.

I don't sing in the choir, but I have done "special music" for the church (me and my guitar doing something like "I Wonder as I Wander" at a Christmas Eve candlelight service), and a few times I've dropped in on these classes for a 'tune-up." Jim really knows what he's doing.

Another factor is the church itself. It's not huge, it seats about 200. And the acoustics are really excellent. Twelve to eighteen people can sometimes sound like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Bob Nelson and I sang a concert there in October of 2007, and it's a great venue.

But the person who really makes it work is Jim. He's taken a bunch of people who are mostly in-the-shower singers and turned them into a really good choir.

Don Firth