Choral Music: In the Spotlight

I grew up as television grew up, so I feel confident in saying that as we enter 2011, choral and vocal music have never before experienced the brightness of the current popular media spotlight. We witness choral flash mobs springing up as the new choral rave party with purposed "spontaneous" performances of Handel at Walmart and mall food courts. We view the unprecedented popularity of Fox's Glee, reality shows from NBC including Voice of America and The Sing Off, BBC's Big Sing and The Choir, and the tenacious perpetuation of the ancient American Idol. A visitor from Mars would conclude from watching American television that in addition to careers in forensic pathology, everyone on earth must be involved in choral or vocal singing.

 

I weighed in on this topic recently in an "On the Level" interview with Eliahu Sussman in Choral Director magazine. To view the full article, click here:

CD: Have you noticed an up tick in choral participation due to shows like "Glee"?

TS: I would say it is more of a validation of what people are already doing, rather than any sort of boost. The kids were already participating in choirs anyway. Kids do like to get together to sing and make harmony. We have seen this all over the world. What this media phenomenon has done is really validate that singing is a cool thing to do. Now it's funny, because "Glee" in particular isn't really validating it because the underlying idea on that show is that the kids who participate are misfits. But what I like about it is that even if a kid feels like he or she is a misfit, singing is still cool.

I have to quickly say for the teacher's sake – and I'm married to a schoolteacher – that I recognize that it goes quite beyond the boundary of a 50-minute class period in order to put together quality performing ensembles. It's not necessarily expected of music teachers to be more heroic or self-sacrificing than what you might see from a math teacher. But choir has to be cool, it has to look like a socially fun thing to do, and the community has to validate that by responding to their endeavors.

CD: So would it be a stretch to say that the exposure on TV makes choral singing more relevant?

TS: It does make it more relevant. Those of us who are in this for life, we know that at the end of the day, music is that emotional and cathartic expression that people need. The world is a better place because people sing. Relevancy to me is that people find something that is really meaningful to their life, something that can bring them some bit of expressive joy and understanding every day. I think "Glee" and the popularity of these music-based shows demonstrate that kids are happier when they're engaged in their singing activity.

There are other facets of our society that demonstrate how relevant music really is. One is that we still have a place for it at moments of joy and celebration. We see choirs in the background at special events, we sing together for the national anthem at the football game, and we include singing in the ceremonies of things that are important to us. The core relevancy is the idea that life has stress, complications, and shades of emotion, and music for the masses – particularly when you can participate in it – brings relevancy to a life experience.

I always come back to the idea that choral music is affordable and democratic. We were built with an instrument inside of us, and people are catching on to that. As educators and members of the choral community, we need to come together to wield that common interest and enthusiasm so that we can reach even more people.