Dr. Judd Bonner

For 25 years, Dr. Judd Bonner has demonstrated that choirs and orchestras can be among the most vibrant, passionate, and inspiring mediums for leading worship and appealing to audiences of all ages.  “It’s not a matter of whether or not the choir is superior to the rock band; it’s a matter of the level of quality/authenticity/engagement of the group up front, and its ability to connect with those in the audience,” Bonner states.  Regarding the decades-long argument over the viability of choirs in schools and in the contemporary evangelical church, Bonner goes on to assert, “There actually is a real hunger for a re-emergence of choral/orchestral music in both the church and schools; however, it can’t be done the same way it was done before, which was often stiff, lifeless, uninspiring, and at times, inaccessible.”  Rather, Bonner has shown, through his successful building of music programs at the university, high school, and church, that treated correctly, people of all ages can be drawn to participate in lively, large-group, corporate music-making that both inspires audiences and energizes performers.

“It’s a matter of infusing into the group all that is naturally attractive to people and excising all that is repellent.” So what are we all attracted to: energy, authenticity, relevance, beauty, vitality, relationship, connection, joy, emotion. And what repels us are basically the opposite qualities of what attracts us: lifelessness, artifice, meaningless repetition, drudgery, detachment, lack of feeling, pomposity.  Finding ways to increase the former and diminish the latter results in a drive for participation in both the performer and audience member.  Bonner has spent 25 successful years in education and church ministry building groups with techniques based on this philosophy.