I sang in the 50th Anniversary choir Festival. There were 1,700 voices as I recall, and not an empty seat in the house. This year, I attended, there was a much smaller choir, but sang very beautifully. The floor seats were almost full, but balcony was visibly empty.
Yes: I recall going up to the balcony to try and find a seat.
I believe that the programming now lacks variety. We used to get a measure of the greats: Mozart, Bach, Haydn, etc. and those giants were represented then more than today. I looked forward to a full orchestra and choir presenting such favorites, but now it seems to be mostly unimpressive, musically speaking, religious music.
But also, in general, interest in religion is declining as indicated by a reduction in church attendance in the Western World:
From Gallup 2021: WASHINGTON, D.C. — “Americans’ membership in houses of worship continued to decline last year, dropping below 50% for the first time in Gallup’s eight-decade trend. In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999.”
From the Catholic Standard: “In yesterday’s post we pondered the decline of the Catholic faith in the United States. For us, the exodus began in the late 1960s. In Europe it had begun long before. Hard figures are difficult to come by, but in most Western European countries today, it is estimated that less than 10 percent of Catholics attend Mass weekly. C.S. Lewis lamented the great collapse of the faith in Europe in writings going back to the late 1940s”.
In my opinion, unlike,for example during the Middle Ages, religion is, in general, a force for good, so the current decline is worrisome.
And that is true locally in Ocean Grove, as with the decline in Choir Festival attendance.
I sang in the 50th Anniversary choir Festival. There were 1,700 voices as I recall, and not an empty seat in the house. This year, I attended, there was a much smaller choir, but sang very beautifully. The floor seats were almost full, but balcony was visibly empty.
Yes: I recall going up to the balcony to try and find a seat.
I believe that the programming now lacks variety. We used to get a measure of the greats: Mozart, Bach, Haydn, etc. and those giants were represented then more than today. I looked forward to a full orchestra and choir presenting such favorites, but now it seems to be mostly unimpressive, musically speaking, religious music.
But also, in general, interest in religion is declining as indicated by a reduction in church attendance in the Western World:
From Gallup 2021: WASHINGTON, D.C. — “Americans’ membership in houses of worship continued to decline last year, dropping below 50% for the first time in Gallup’s eight-decade trend. In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999.”
From the Catholic Standard: “In yesterday’s post we pondered the decline of the Catholic faith in the United States. For us, the exodus began in the late 1960s. In Europe it had begun long before. Hard figures are difficult to come by, but in most Western European countries today, it is estimated that less than 10 percent of Catholics attend Mass weekly. C.S. Lewis lamented the great collapse of the faith in Europe in writings going back to the late 1940s”.
In my opinion, unlike,for example during the Middle Ages, religion is, in general, a force for good, so the current decline is worrisome.
And that is true locally in Ocean Grove, as with the decline in Choir Festival attendance.
There was a time when the Choir Festival was a full house event. Times have changed.