RSCM-A Carolina Course by Our Choristers
In 2016, I was invited by Matthew Michael Brown to serve as the Adult Housemaster at the Royal School of Church Music in America Carolina Course. While I had a vague idea about these weeklong musical intensives, it wasn’t until that moment that I became aware of what the Royal School of Church Music meant for the Episcopal Church tradition.
RSCM-A (Royal School of Church Music in America) is an independent branch of the U.K.-based Royal School of Church Music. Their mission is to uplift the spiritual life of the communities affiliated with it through the great tradition of sacred choral music. Emmanuel is an RSCM-A affiliate, and our Cherub and Chorister Choirs are part of that tradition. While we currently do not have the staff to manage a full-fledged chorister program, our parish has a long tradition of supporting our choristers in summer choral residencies. Starting with Alan Reed’s tenure (1986-1996), The Emmanuel Thrift shop sponsored these singers each year until the establishment of the Fran Drake Fund last year. These scholarships have afforded members of our parish to attended summer choral residencies in Dallas, Charlotte, Raleigh, and at Duke University.
At these summer choral residencies, young singers have the opportunity to join forces with other like-minded young musicians to learn and sing some of the world’s greatest choral repertoire. During the week campers share the Eucharist each morning, sing Choral Evensong every evening, and conclude the busy day with Compline. Beyond the music and elements of spiritual formation, choristers build lifelong friendships with boys and girls across the country.
Since 2017, the Carolina Course for girls, of which I have been most associated, has been in residency at Duke University. This location has afforded choristers and adult participants the opportunity to sing and work in one of the most glorious sacred spaces in our country, Duke Chapel, each day of the week. Duke Chapel’s glorious acoustics, four organs, and divided choir, make it one of the best spaces to offer great sacred choral music anywhere in the United States. The combination of acoustics, organs, and space give English choral music authenticity, allows for American choral music to come alive with exquisite lusciousness, and for most historical offerings, such as Mozart, Bach, Handel, or Haydn, it gives the singer and listener alike glimpses into those European traditions and contexts. For a lover of choral music, it is pure joy.
But the experiences of the choristers are more than just musical. Throughout the week I watch girls as young as ten navigate the student union/dining hall known as the Broadhead Center, where they have their choice of food from 13 different eateries. The freedom and independence that they can exercise, sometimes for the first time, in making their own choices in what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, is empowering. Choristers stay in the dorm for the week, and the Gothic architecture of Duke University makes a stay in the dorms like something from a Harry Potter movie. Moreover, a week on a major university campus helps unlocks the mystery of what a college or university is all about. Living and working and studying and sleeping and eating at one of the great American universities as a chorister helps make later college decisions more manageable. The fear and anxiety of the unknown that I had about college is certainly lessened for choristers who spend a week navigating classrooms, dorms, bookstores, dining halls, and great sacred spaces.
These weeks spent at the RSCM-A Carolina Course by our choristers is life-changing. I have watched girls be absolutely transformed by the experience. And that, my friends, is the work of the Holy Spirit.
If you would like to learn more about the RSCM-A, you can explore more about this great organization at their website:
A 90-second video review of the 2024 Carolina Course at Duke University, where you will see many familiar Emmanuel faces, can be seen here:
https://youtu.be/r7CLgiRgoxk?si=SgMp7WUAuXSDGr7X
If you would like to learn more about the RSCM Carolina Course, you can learn more at:
On their site you can see information about past courses. Clicking on individual article titles will unlock photos and videos. For those who might be interested in supporting the work of the Carolina Course, there is a link to join the Friends of the RSCM Carolina Summer Choral Residency.
And just in case you wanted to see what your Emmanuel choristers and Organist/Choirmaster were up to last week, I invite you to experience the 11 A.M. Morning Eucharist and 4 P.M. Choral Evensong from Duke Chapel at the following links:
Sunday Morning
https://www.youtube.com/live/4gEXv0LARoI?si=xXtjNiWPBGpGsHgi
Sunday Evening
https://www.youtube.com/live/s9jPn73-fxQ?si=7mIg9lHnZhnLa6qQ
Many thanks to all the Emmanuel members and staff who attended one or both services at Duke Chapel on Sunday in support of our choristers. Your presence was deeply appreciated. Additionally, I offer my gratitude to the vestry, clergy, the Fran Drake Fund, The Emmanuel Thrift Shop, and all of those who have made these residencies for our choristers possible through the years.
Dr. Homer A. Ferguson III