CJ Replay: It’s Time to Program for NEXT Season

(From the Choral Journal article, “Selecting Choral Repertoire as Pre-Curriculum,” by John W. Richmond.  Scroll to page 23)

 

       All of us involved in music education, regardless of level, struggle to close the gap between the theory of our field and its practice in the classroom. The professional literature regarding the design of music education curricula is considerable. Indeed, this work can be a source of pride for us all. (A list of representative anthologies and repertoire guides is included as a reference at the conclusion of this article.) However, the foible in choral music education is that too often in actual school use elegant curriculum designs are the exception rather than the rule. Instead, the selection of repertoire serves as the “alpha and omega” of choral education planning. Music is chosen, rehearsed, presented, filed, chosen, rehearsed, presented, etc.

       The many reasons for this are both understandable and well-meaning. First, enormous pressures continue to mount for higher standards in all of public education. (Witness the more than forty national critiques of education published in the last decade.) In many secondary choral programs, these general demands translate into specific requirements for more and more performances by the students to an ever-widening audience. Such pressures can force educators to adopt rehearsal methods and instructional strategies which more resemble an intense “drill” of professional singers than a nurturing educational experience for adolescent,developing musicians. Further, most well-prepared choral educators have a genuine desire to share with students the remarkable musical peak experiences enjoyed during their own musical growth. Most of us can look back to a college choir, professional choral experience, community chorus, or some other setting as a uniquely important and pivotal time in our professional development. Typically, the standard of music-making terms of both the stature of the repertoire and the calibre of performance, were fresh, heady, and meaningful. The power of music to touch us, to change our sense of artistic awareness, was extraordinary.