CHILDREN’S CHOIR

The Children’s Choir is for any child in grades K-2. Rehearsals are on Wednesdays from 5:00 PM to 5:45 PM starting in mid-September through mid-May. The Children’s Choir sings once a month from October through May during Sunday morning worship. The choir also sings at the annual Candlelight Carol Service and the Christmas Eve Family Service each December. Children are taught to read musical rhythms and basic musical notation. Musical games are played to learn musical concepts. The anthems sung follow the seasons of the church year. Through the songs, the children sing they learn more about God and find joy in singing and worshipping. New members are welcome any time throughout the school year.

JUNIOR CHOIR

The Junior Choir is for any child in grades 3 – 8. Rehearsals are on Wednesdays from 5:45 PM to 6:30 PM beginning in mid-September through mid-May. The Junior Choir sings once a month from October through May during Sunday morning worship as well as during the annual Candlelight Carol Service and the Christmas Eve Family Service each December. The Junior Choir also reaches out to our community and about once a year sings at a retirement home. The choir has also participated in choir festivals with other area church choirs and presented a musical in the spring based on a Biblical story. Again the fundamentals of reading music and rhythms are taught. Sight-singing is a part of each rehearsal. The children learn about the church year as all of their music relates to each season of the church. A deeper appreciation for the hymns of our church is also an important part of the choir. The service award program begins with the Junior Choir and continues through grade 12. For each year of choir service, participants receive a colored ribbon with a bead representing the number of years in the choirs and their level of participation. New members are welcome at any time throughout the school year.

YOUTH CHOIR

The Youth Choir is for any person in grades 9 – 12. Rehearsals are on Sundays from 11:15 AM to 11:45 AM from mid-September to mid-May. The Youth Choir sings in worship about every six weeks and also during the Candlelight Carol Service and the Christmas Eve Service in December. Music sung is in two or three parts as well as some unison music. The service award program described above continues through grade 12. New members are welcome at any time.

SANCTUARY CHOIR

The Sanctuary Choir is for any person in grades 7 through Adult. Rehearsals are every Thursday evening from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM starting in early September through early June. This choir leads the music each Sunday morning at the 10:00 AM service from September to mid-June. The choir also sings at the Candlelight Carol Service and the late Christmas Eve Service as well as the evening Good Friday Service. The Sanctuary Choir is made up of volunteers who enjoy singing. New members are welcome at any time.

FESTIVAL CHOIR

A Festival Choir forms to sing each year for the Christmas and Easter services. The Festival Choir is made up of youth and adults from the Carmel Choirs and members of the congregation who enjoy singing but cannot commit to weekly rehearsals. Festival Choir rehearsals begin five weeks prior to Christmas and Easter on Thursday evenings from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM. If you are interested in being part of any of Carmel’s Choirs please contact Abby Palmisano, Director of Music 215–887–1074 (press 3) or come to a rehearsal.

HANDBELL CHOIR

Carmel’s handbell choir is an inter-generational choir and is open to people from Grade 5 to adult. If you have a good sense of rhythm and coordination, then you are a good candidate for the bells. Carmel owns five octaves of handbells and three octaves of hand chimes. Rehearsals are on Monday nights from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM from mid-September to late April. The handbells ring in worship about every six weeks. The bells are co-directed by Heather Coelho and Abby Palmisano. If you are interested in becoming a ringer, please contact Abby at 215-887-1074 (press 3)