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Views from the Choir Loft

The Church Music Director: Job or Vocation?

Andrew R. Motyka · February 27, 2013

he college professor whom I respected most was the director of music at the cathedral in Albany, New York. He had been the director there for over forty years before he retired, fighting through multiple sclerosis for thirty years. One of his most common pieces of advice was “don’t go into music.” Naturally, as I neared graduation and expressed my desire to continue my studies, focusing in liturgical music, he had some great wisdom.

He reminded me that working for the Church can consume your whole life. With what was obviously a bit of regret, he warned me to never let your work interfere with your family life. Your whole weekends can be gone, you can spend extra hours or days at the office, church, or organ console, and before you know it, your children have grown up without a parent.

There is a balance that all of us who work for the Church need to find, especially those of us who have families at home. For myself, I constantly remind myself that music in the liturgy is my job. Yes, it is a job that I love, and its connection to my faith naturally gives it a deeper meaning in my life than another job might. However, it is not my vocation. My vocation is to be a husband and father, and if my job interferes with that, then something is amiss.

The best way to do this is to be jealous with your days off. I’ve found myself, on more than one occasion, thinking that I’ll put in an extra day at the office, and I’ll shift my day off to later in the week. This never happens. Without fail, there will be a funeral or some other emergency that comes up and you will lose your time with your family altogether. Take days off when they come, and spend them with family. Make time to pick the children up from school, even if it means going back to work in the evening or bringing work home with you. Remember that you work for your family; your family doesn’t revolve around your work.

I always tell people that I am blessed to be able to do what I truly love for a living, to have a relationship with God and offer praise to Him through music. At the end of the day, though, there needs to be a separation between job and vocation. If I had to do the most vile jobs to provide for my family, I would do it. Thank God if you can do what you love and make money doing it, but do not let it consume your true vocation.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Andrew R. Motyka

Andrew Motyka is the Archdiocesan Director of Liturgical Music and Cathedral Music for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    William Byrd • Simple “Agnus Dei” Canon
    Time flies! Back in July, I posted a PDF setting of a perfect canon by William Byrd (d. 1623) arranged as an AGNUS DEI for three voices. Last Sunday, we sang that arrangement with our volunteer choir. To hear a ‘live’ recording of it, click here (Mp3). In my humble opinion, this would be a perfect piece for a choir just beginning to experiment with polyphony.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)
    I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!” A young woman from California wrote: “Thank you for releasing your new Glory To God in honor of Saint Noel Chabanel. I'm enjoying reading through the various parts and listening to your recordings.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”
    Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony. — One of our volunteer choirs also sang that SANCTUS on 24 September 2023, and you can listen to how that came out.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

When Christ gave the bread, he did not say, “This is the symbol of my body,” but, “This is my body.” In the same way, when he gave the cup of his blood he did not say, “This is the symbol of my blood,” but, “This is my blood.”

— Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia, writing in the 5th Century

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