NQC 2006 to Focus on the Church
The schedule for the 2006 National Quartet Convention has been posted to our web-site, www.natqc.com. I certainly encourage all of you to visit the web-site and look over the schedule. While you are there, you might want to take a listen to NQC Radio- a 24/7 web-cast featuring the latest material from NQC’s featured performers. This web-cast has attracted regular listeners in over a dozen countries, which is quite exciting.
Most of your favorite artists have returned to featured positions on the evening concert roster, and we are delighted to welcome the Martins back to our featured lineup. Welcome back, Joyce, Jonathan and Judy—we missed you. We are also glad to welcome back the Chuck Wagon Gang, who are keeping that legendary name alive with great success, and the Isaacs, who continue to set a new standard for gospel music influenced by modern bluegrass. These groups are certainly a welcome addition back on the NQC main stage.
Some other “welcome back” recognitions go to Ivan Parker, Janet Paschal and Anthony Burger, who are doing a featured Artist Spotlight Showcase in Freedom Hall on Thursday afternoon. These artists are perennial favorites, and we are sure pleased they have agreed to perform at the NQC this year. These artists also enjoy great success within the church, which is a point of emphasis for the NQC going forward.
A major outreach to the church will be made by the NQC this year, and this emphasis was of critical importance as we composed the 2006 schedule. This emphasis is best illustrated by a showcase featuring Jim and Carol Cymbala and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Singers which will be taking place on Friday afternoon. For those of you who may have approached your minister of music about the NQC in the past, only to receive a patronizing if not outright negative response, please approach your minister of music again and tell him that the Cymbala’s and the Brooklyn Tabernacle singers will be featured. I think you might be surprised by how much enthusiasm he will suddenly show. This might lead to your church and choir leadership to get a church group organized to attend the NQC. There is a section on our web-site that makes the process of organizing a church group very easy. All of the information, instructions and group discount information is available, so feel free to visit the section labeled, “How to Organize a Church Group,” on our home page.
The NQC has made the strategic decision to gear our day of greatest attendance, Friday, specifically toward the church. Not only will Brooklyn Tabernacle be featured, but there will also be a seminar lead by Dr. David Jeremiah as well as a Choral Extravaganza lead by Mike Speck. This is a lineup that should excite and motivate all involved with church music and church ministry in general. We believe that our music is uniquely positioned to be a regular component of church worship. Our presentations are stylistically diverse enough to appeal to every demographic within the church and our lyrics contain a constant, clear, straightforward and forthright presentation of the Gospel and Biblical truths. I believe we have a competitive edge in this regard. We just need to do a better job of promoting this fact to the church and presenting ourselves with consistent quality to the church. With all my heart, I believe the future of our music will be very much determined by to what extent we can become a regular component of Sunday morning worship within the main stream, evangelical denominations. Hopefully, the NQC can be a catalyst in accomplishing this goal.
We invite you to visit www.natqc.com to see a complete schedule, order your tickets over our web interface which will allow you to select your seats, make your hotel reservations through our hotel reservation system, order your showcase tickets and find out about our all inclusive vacation packages which include tickets to all NQC events, tickets to several area attraction and hotel accommodations complete with complimentary breakfast at the historic Brown Hotel downtown. Of course, you may also call us at 800-846-8499, and a friendly NQC representative will be glad to help you. We look forward to seeing you this September in Louisville.
