How To Direct A Choir

Dreher Leads Chorale in Patriotic Faith

David Dreher has held many titles throughout his life: Roman Catholic, Juilliard grad, Kennywood employee, opera singer, cancer survivor, Mercy Hospital manager, husband, father and Director of Music Ministries at Saint Kilian Parish in Cranberry.

His most recent role is director of the Dreher Chorale , a choir composed of about 65 members from almost 20 churches in the area. The group performs biannual concerts in the summer and winter with patriotic and Christmas themes.

The group started five years ago when Dreher said a friend from Mars Alliance Church asked him to conduct a patriotic concert in the community. After listening to the music, Dreher agreed and has conducted the choir ever since.

“It was just one of those moments that God just leads you to, and I just said, ‘This is what I’m meant to be doing,’” said Dreher.

He said the journey to his current job was one filled with many career changes and challenging experiences.

“I’ve had many Saul moments where I was knocked off the horse, and I said, ‘All right, what do you want me to do now?’” he said.

After studying engineering and pre-med at college, Dreher said he decided to switch majors and apply to The Juilliard School to study voice. Upon graduation, he began his career in opera, working for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Pittsburgh Opera , mostly as a character actor.

“Really, I was very blessed to sing with all the biggies,” Dreher said. “I was able to sing with [ Luciano] Pavarotti , Placido Domingo, Jon Vickers, with Birgit Nilsson .”

After a 15-year career in opera that included touring the northern United States and traveling to Spain and Italy, Dreher received the news that would change his life.

“I came down with cancer at 37," he said. “It really causes you to reevaluate everything in your life. You learn not to take tomorrow for granted.”

As he recovered from malignant melanoma, Dreher knew he wanted a job that would allow him to stay close to home with his wife and young children. He decided to join the health care field.

“I knew something about breathing from singing, so I went back to school and got a degree for respiratory therapy,” he said. “And I ended up working in that field for 15 years and rose through the ranks and ended up becoming a manager at Mercy Hospital for five different departments.

Silence in the Wilderness: Do you Direct the Choir or Lead??

Have you ever noticed when you first give your life to Christ how excited everyone is. All the praise, clapping, music, hugs, kisses, etc. how it goes on for awhile but then slowly begins to fade away? Then it feels like you are just thrown into the game, but really don't know how to play. It is at this point many new Christians, many new believers walk away. They walk through the front door, and slipping out the backdoor without a trace. The above scripture says, "you cross land and sea to make one convert" meaning we do all we can, we give our all, telling about how good God is. We hit the streets with our plan: who will pray, sing, dance, bring the word, who will do this and that. We have our plan of salvation ready to give them to recite, then it's on to the next one. How much time are we giving that one? Who is that new soul assigned to? In our churches we have many coming on Sunday to join, to give their lives to God, but we also have some that need more than a church home. They are bleeding internally, they are looking to be healed. They are running to safety, and who are they running to? Are they running to the nurses that really don't know the doctor(Jesus) for themselves, are they running to an empty hospital, because the attending physician(Jesus) is not practicing in our lives? Many are just selling them, what someone else has sold them. So many are practicing religious beliefs, not even in relationship with the Father. Many could not tell you who Father God is, without giving the many names He has been to others and in the Bible. If someone was to ask me back in the day, when I was going out to minister on the street team who God is. I would just feed them, what someone else has fed me. If they ask me who He is for me, to me. I would have looked just as lost as they are. When in fact I was, like the scripture says, "I turn them into twice the son of hell as I was." Why you ask, how do you do that? I just sold him/her my religious beliefs by way of someone else. Now they have their religious beliefs and watch the way I was living my life(God Sunday, everything else the rest of the week) and pick it up, now they have their religious beliefs and continue to live their lives the way they was, because that is what I was doing. That makes them twice the son/daughter of hell as I am. The scripture says, You can't live life hot and cold, you have to choose.

The Choir and How to Direct It

The American ecclesiastical review;, a monthly publication for the clergy

A handbook for beginning choral educators

Sound advice, becoming a better children's choir conductor

Pavel Chesnokov's "The choir and how to direct it", a translation and analysis of