For use by choirs and music ensembles. Prayer warm-ups for weekly, seasonal and holy days, as well as many occasions for music ministers.

America tells its stories through song. Consolation to the lovelorn, courage to the oppressed, warning to the naive, or a ticket to the Promised Land, a great song can deliver the wisdom of ages directly to our souls. We Are the Music Makers! presents black-and-white portraits of artists who carry these songs from past to present: fathers and mothers, uncles and aunts, daughters and sons, grandparents and neighbors, who continue to lovingly stir the South's musical stew and feed American culture outside the realm of conventional fame and fortune. Newly available in paperback, this book features intimate photographs that will make you look more closely at the unrecognized greatness that surrounds us all.

THe MUSIC MAKERS by Shirley Russak Wachtel, author of the acclaimed memoir, MY MOTHER'S SHOES, is the story of five individuals living in upstate New York: Virginia, a divorcee embarking on a new career as she worries over the demands of her grown daughters; Joshua, a widower haunted by the memories of his lost wife as he faces a rebellious son; Christine, an artist who struggles with a terrible secret; Adam who finds himself in the first throes of love with the wrong person; and David, a Holocaust survivor facing his last days frightened by memory loss as he clings to the tattered images of his past. Their different lives and concerns are suddenly drawn together by the appearance of a mysterious young boy. Ordinary people with life issues from which none of us can escape, they each ultimately overcome struggles, finding a sense of "harmony" as they are inspired by something which none of them ever anticipated. Heartrending and beautiful, THE MUSIC MAKERS is an unforgettable tale of characters full of life and passion so that coming to the last page, the reader will find not only the end of the book but the end of a friendship as well.

Thirty-two composers, conductors, performers, scholars, patrons, critics and others integrally involved in the American classical music milieu offer perceptions, criticisms and praise in assessing the music world and their experiences.

A rhyming introduction to the instruments of the symphony orchestra.