Choral Caffeine: Choral Sharing

Ever notice that the best things in life are made better when the experience is shared?  Whether it’s a night at the movies, a great thunderstorm, or a day at an amusement park, some events just seem to demand to not be done solo.  Even some chocolate bars come in two pieces – they are designed for a shared sweet experience.

 

Thomas Lloyd has applied the noble idea of a shared experience to the choral arena.  In his article,  “Transformative Collaborations with Other Choirs” (Troubadour, April 2011), he discusses the process for combining choirs from two different cultures in a musically rewarding and personally meaningful way.

 

To begin with, it is important to be clear about what will determine whether or not a collaborative project is successful. For me, two outcomes are essential:

 

(1) Each person involved should come away from the collaboration with a sense of having had a glimpse of life and the world different from his/her own, including insights that can come from seeing ourselves as others see us.

 

(2) Each person gains a sense of the otherness of that new perspective but with a clearer sense of the common traits all people share and a deeper sense of what it means to be human.

 

What is the most valuable benefit?  Your choirs must rehearse together! Imagine the “electricity” that happens when, after a period of awkward hellos and eyeing each other from a distance, a group of young people or community choir singers come together to rehearse. From that moment on, all kinds of spontaneous sharing occurs.

 

Sounds like fun! Now, do you want half of this Twix?