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Saints Alive! Sharing Musical Gifts and Bringing Us Closer to the Liturgy
Their numbers may have been temporarily reduced during the COVID-19 restrictions, but the members of our music ensemble, Saints Alive!, are ready to return to their normal grouping to offer music and song that brings us closer together as we worship at Mass.
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Don Cook coordinates the ensemble that includes guitars, bass, flutes, and several singers. Don plays 12- string acoustic guitar, and occasionally six-string guitar. There currently are seven members, although it has been as large as 14 and as small as four. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, there have been only two active musicians, but conditions should return the number to seven.
The group started in 1989 and found its name under the leadership of Wally Drone, along with his late wife, Luanne Drone.
“He brought us all along,” Don says of Wally, who is in assisted living. “He was good at encouraging us with instruments.”
Saints Alive! plays traditional Catholic hymns and songs, as well as other appropriate Christian music.
“We play whatever the setting calls for,” Don says. “We don’t do three-chord praise music. We do regular Catholic music, and we make our own arrangements.”
Before the COVID-19 restrictions went into place, the group practiced each week but hasn’t been able to do so lately. However, the members’ skills are such that rehearsal isn’t always needed.
“We don’t necessarily have to practice like we used to — ‘religiously,’” Don says. “Even new musicians can pick up the pieces quickly. It may take only 20 minutes. They pick it up quickly — they are great sight readers.”
Whether the group is playing during Mass, for meditation, prelude or postlude, their work always serves to bring them closer to Christ.
“I always take the approach that we get more out of what we do than what we put in,” Don says. “There is joy and fulfillment, following the saying that ‘when you sing, you are praying twice.’ I understand that sentiment.”
Playing in the ensemble also is the best practice of stewardship for Don.
“I truly love it,” he says. “It is a lot of work, but it is a labor of love. It certainly brings you closer to the Liturgy. You pay more attention, and you have music that fits the readings. You pay attention to the readings more deeply. It’s very good that way.”
Saints Alive! enjoys a close working relationship with Music Director Michael Kim.
“We are very fortunate to have Michael at Queen,” Don says. “He allows us leeway for selections of music. I have a real good feel for the music that the congregation will participate in. Michael makes suggestions. And I suggest something for the readings. We know what the people will do, and we can hear them sing back, which is really fulfilling for us when it happens. We don’t want to perform — we want to lead, and that’s the key to it.”
Saints Alive! is always open to new members.
“We like people who are willing to become part of it,” Don says. “We want people who want to take it seriously and learn how to do it better, learn how to blend better. Sometimes people are intimidated, but all are welcome.”
