Um, I really hate to say this, but that's about how many will be in our boxes to get us through Easter when we get to our next rehearsal. And that doesn't count Transitional Diaconate Ordination. Tis the season for four binders. We haven't even turned in all the Christmas stuff yet, either.
Honestly, it always looks much more smooth than it really is. You've always got to be ready for the unexpected. Not everybody is a ceremony nerd.
Problem is, we don't have enough serious amateurs in this choir. Too many ladies of a certain age who can't really read music, too many lazy guys who don't take their work seriously, too many folks who don't show up for practice but can't sightread . . . .
On the other hand, I've played in the big leagues. Audition-only Episcopal choirs since the age of 6 (including 2 cathedral choirs), tours, Spoleto, recordings, the Protestant Hour live radio broadcasts, etc. Often directed by Type A tightly-wound control freaks who screamed and threw things.
All in all, I think I like this better. And it's astonishing how much good and fairly difficult music we are singing now, despite the laid back attitude.
New stuff is constantly introduced. Got 3 new ones last night - "This Is the Record of John", the Bruckner gradual "Christus Factus", and one other that I'm too lazy to go check in my folder - but I think it was another English Renaissance.