Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco
Church Music Federation

About the Federation

The Metropolis of San Francisco Church Music Federation is a thriving ministry, with nearly 1,000 active adult and youth choir members.  Our largest event of the year is the Summer Conference, which is hosted by a different parish each year.  At the Conference, adult choir members, youth choir members and chanters from all over the Metropolis gather together to worship, sing, learn more about the music and our faith, and enjoy fellowship and fun!  Along with the Conference, we hold regional events such as Church Music Institutes (CMI), rehearsals, meetings and other gatherings throughout the year.

 

The Metropolis of San Francisco is guided by our spiritual leader, Metropolitan Gerasimos, and encompasses seven western states:  Arizona, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

 

Strategic Plan

 

In order to better address the numerous needs of so many parishes in this large geographic area, the Federation in 2003 developed a multi-year Strategic Plan to improve our vision and scope of work.  We recently completed the major goals and projects outlined in the plan, thanks to many people who worked diligently to develop new programs and streamline administrative functions. 

 

Some of the highlights:

 

  1. We developed this Federation website to include important communication tools for our parishes. Future plans include an online index of available Liturgical music that includes the opportunity to download music samples.
  2. The Federation established a ListServ facility through the Archdiocese and entered more than 500 email addresses to send emails directly to church musicians.  Click here to join the list.
  3. We implemented a Conductor’s Training Academy (CTA) which included four intense one-day workshops over a six-month period to improve the skills and proficiencies of our parish choir directors. The Federation underwrote a portion of this program, and the students and/or their parishes subsidized the balance. 
  4. We created training and materials for the development of Youth Music programs. Also, we launched an age- and grade-appropriate Sunday School music curriculum. 
  5. We revised the Federation’s Bylaws to reflect changes in the timing of elections, the establishment of term limits and a more clear definition of the duties and responsibilities of the officers and committees. 

Dues and Stewardship Donations

 The majority of the Federation’s revenue comes from dues and stewardship from the parishes throughout the Metropolis of San Francisco. In the 2008-2009 fiscal year, over $11,000 was collected from parishes in our Metropolis. Our guidelines call for one-third of the profits from our annual summer conference to be submitted to the Federation.

 Addressing Needs

 The Church Music Federation is dedicated to providing the best resources to our parishes to help them establish and sustain music programs for adults, youth and chanters.  Some of the areas of specialty in which we offer guidance include:

  Youth Music – development of a youth music program, either as a separate youth choir or in conjunction with Sunday School.

  • Conducting Skills - conducting, rehearsal techniques, repertoire selection.
  • Vocal production – training and developing better singers.
  • Organ Scholarships – each year the Federation awards two scholarships to fund organ lessons for deserving candidates. 
  • Byzantine Chant – resources and instruction for chanting in English and Greek for new chanters or for existing chanters to further their knowledge and skill.
  • Congregational Singing – resources and materials to get you started.