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Professional Apathy

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A few weeks ago, I heard a remarkable sermon based on the book of Amos.
 
In the middle of the sermon, the pastor said this:
 
“Busyness is our excuse, laziness is our affliction.”
 
It is a powerful statement.  (it is also a spelling conundrum – both of those words look misspelled to me)
 
I have been disappointed in the participation level of some professional events for the past several years – our state (Alabama) can’t seem to build a critical mass at our events and it bothers me.  
 
We wonder about the obvious causes:
  • did we advertise well enough?
  • did we bring in the right clinicians?
  • is the date a good one?
  • is the location right?
I’m beginning to wonder if it isn’t a case of professional apathy . . . that there are very few “true believers” around these days.  I wonder if people are distracted – or if they have different priorities – or if it really is apathy.
 
Meanwhile, the Texas ACDA Summer event brings in as many people as the ACDA Southern Regional Conference.
 
Can someone explain it to me?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Philip,
     
    Do you think that most choirs via their directors really know what an efficiently phonated voice sounds like?  It ain’t easy to teach. One can go to YouTube and hear many college/university choirs or go to the web sites of the institutions as I frequently do and am alarmed to hear the over-accentuation so exrtant. Rhythm is not all in the note, as a matter of fact, one can say that rhythm actually takes place between the notes. It is a big mistake to pound young voices as many, many seem to do. A large heldentenor of the Met recently said that the beauty is in the quiet singing  (mezzo voce). I think if the Alabama public as well as students were to hear some beautiful, in tune,, textually clear singing of tried and true songs your attendance would grow.
     
    I think, too, that it is easy for a choral director to be turned on at the prospect of impressing other choral directors. There is a waiting public out there!
     
    Make recordings of some really fine singing of some Alabama favorites and play them on the air and TV in advance of events. Get some politicians to speak up about the wonderful singing. But, of course, you have to convince them by letting them hear it first.
     
    I wish I could help, I”d love to!
     
    Warmly,
     
    C.  Edward PalmerMusic.com
     

  2. Philip,
     
    Thank you for your vigilance in this important area (and good for you for paying attention during a sermon on Amos!). I am no Amos, but I continue to preach the prophetic lessons of collaboration and mentorship. I believe strongly that a serious approach to both of these imperatives will change the environment.
     
    In terms of the mentorship imperative, if we can move to “what’s in it for choral music”, and away from “what’s in it for me”, we will be headed in the right direction.
    I realize this is a difficult task, as people are busy protecting their schedule, family time, leisure, job security, etc (see Stan’s post above). Secondly, if we would join with NATS, Hymn Society, MENC, AGO, various faith-based organizations that care about their choral voice, industry collaborators, and/or join with intrumental organizations with which we share some common themes, we would find more synergy and enthusiasm and numbers. The collaboration imperative could be a real game-changer.
     
    I am a big fan of Texas, and I am a big fan of Dan Wood, TCDA’s Executive Director. You simply cannot compare a state that has a pro like Dan, to a state without a professional and full-time, year-round guide, when it comes to holding an activity such as an annual conference. Neither can we compare any other state in terms of size or resources–we all know that. But, I do not want to miss the provacative point–is there apathy?
     
    My last few blogs on ChoralNet have attempted to address collaboration and mentorship. I suggest that collaboration can offer some insurance when it comes to accountability, and I suggest that attention to mentorship can help us move outside ourselves and think about a level of advocacy that we can indeed influence. Both of these areas would be an approach to apathy.

  3. I’ll try to explain. I just got back from the TCDA convention, and the headliners were John Rutter, Rollo Dilworth, Tim Lautenheizer and Lynne Gackle. Along with that, some of the other workshop presenters are well known Texas choral directors who have presented workshops or  directed honor choirs in many different states, so people come to see them as well. One big difference from other states is all the free music. There are 12 new music reading sessions and a couple of tried and proven sessions each with more than 300 octavos handed out to members for free. We also provide many opportunities for college music students (they conduct an entire reading session themselves and get to go the convention for free if they volunteer to be gophers). We also began a HS student day this year with “Dr. Tim” which was a great success. Rutter conducted the worship service for the church division and did a workshop. The Elementary Honor Choir (under Dr. Dilworth’s direction), included 165 4th-6th grade kiddos auditioned by CD in the spring from all over the state.  Elem. music teachers also go in droves because they have several workshops each year specifically for elem. topics. It is also always in the summer just before most teachers are ready to return to school and is always at the same time and same place (San Antonio) each year, so there is a familiarity factor there as well. Not missing work (and not having to “use your days” for the convention) helps attendance tremendously since it’s in the summer. We honor great young and old directors each year at the business meeting. Texas is also an ENORMOUS state with most school districts having choirs and a huge church particpation. Most college and community directors also attend. Even though I’ve always lived here, I can’t believe how many show up for the convention each year – usually more that 5000 total.  If you’ve never been, you should come, because it’s always great! We have lots of out of state folks who come each year – I met some lovely folks from Minnesota last week!
     
    Mary Jane Phillips

  4. I think Arkansas sounds similar to Maryland, and for all music organizations, not just ACDA.  The state AGEHR, AGO, and possibly others have relatively small turn-outs for their events, and we wondered whether the AGEHR would have to cancel a summer seminar this year before we got some last-minute registrations.  In the church world, so many of our church musicians are part-time and often have other day jobs, so attending continuing ed events doesn’t seem to be a priority.  I do think our society over-values the ability to take on too many things and we’re left too busy and exhausted when we try to meet those expectations.  (Look at how church is becoming a lower and lower priority these days, as other things take it’s place – sports, trips to the lake, shopping, “family time”, etc.)
     
    But Texas is indeed a special case.  Students are fired up about music; a large percentage of ensemble participants also take private lessons.  The schools seem to have unusually good parental and administrative support for excellence in music.  Many of teachers are top quality and seem to know how to motivate the students to go the extra mile.  And there’s a bit of a competitive factor between schools as well.  I always pay special attention to Texas school choirs at ACDA conventions, and they have better professionally produced programs to hand out than most colleges do.  The Dallas chapter of Choristers Guild has a winter conference that’s always well attended.  It’s just a different scene down there.  And the summers are hot.  (Just thought I’d throw that in there, since nothing’s perfect!)

  5. Philip,

    I am not sure you can compare TCDA to other organizations. It
    has been around for so long now, and has been very well attended
    for as long as I can recall. I remember TCDA bringing in John
    Rutter in the late 70s or early 80s. And that was hugely attended.
    Still, I understand, the main point of the frustration, and since I
    have nothing to offer, but best wishes,

    I will shut up.

    Best regards,

    Rick Roe

  6. Philip,

    I wish I could explain this as well. Here in the DC area, we
    have 3 chapters that work together to hold one conference. Both
    Delaware and Virginia have incredibly active chapters, but the very
    few of us in the MD/DC chapter struggle just to get R&S chairs
    to volunteer for the job. Is it a geographic problem? Is it a
    motivation issue? Is is the influence of other organizations on our
    own (MENC, AGO, etc…)? I wonder if this is an issue that we
    should hear from Mr. Sharp on.

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