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Choral Caffeine: Now What?

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The 2011-12 academic year is in the history books, or it soon will be.  If we’ve done our jobs right, we are completely spent.  We left it on the field, or in our case on the stage.  We. Are. Exhausted.
 
It’s time to take a break; to free our minds, hearts and souls.  I need about two weeks to decompress.  How about you?
 
But then it always happens.  I’ll get a little rest, allowing the pressures and problems of the year to slough off my back.  Then I hear that little voice in the back of my head: “That’s enough.  Now what?”  I’ll fight that voice for a few days, but I always lose.  “Now what?”
 
It’s a good question . . . “Now what?”   What can we do over the summer month to improve.  How can we develop the choir’s sound next season? How can we be more patient? Where can we find a better edition of a particular work? How can we be better musicians?  What can we do to improve the quality of the total educational experience for our young charges?
 
Yes, yes, yes, we NEED the break to rejuvenate, to get the creative juices flowing again.  We need to play a little golf, enjoy time by the lake, put the top down and get some sun.  But if we wait until August to start pondering how we can continue to advance our craft, it’ll be too late.
 
So . . . Now What?
 

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  2. I can’t really take a lot of time off.  Instead, my energy shifts.  However, I will be able to take a break from emails other logistical stuff.  Those two areas diminish significantly during the summer and drain the most of my energy.  What does rejuvinate me is finding choral music that was previously unknown to me.  This summer, I will be looking for SATB and SSATB Renaissance and Baroque on cpdl and imslp that would be suitable for my adult church choir.  If all goes well, I will be submitting a proposal an at ACDA convention exploring my findings.
     
    With my church job, I intend on doing a lot of recruiting over the summer for all 6 of my ensembles.
     
    I also intend on doing the bulk of work for my voice recital in October (sounds like a lot of work, but I’m looking forward to it).
     
    Planning for my school choirs will come later in the summer.
     
    Two non-musical goals for me: exercise and go to a few Phillies games!

  3. This is true. However, it is the ratio of prep to rehearsal that is most wearing. An hour of prep for six hours of rehearsal every day. Had I an even prep-rehearsal ratio, say three hours of prep to three hours of rehearsal each day, I wouldn’t need a couple of months off! There are trade-offs for every job.

  4. Wow, it must be nice to have a couple of months off!  Some of us in the realm of church music go at it 12 months out of the year – for me, I don’t think that is an option to go “choir-less” for the summer (the true audience of our worship deserves better than that!)

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