The young, recently hired director of a 100-voice community choir was working hardto inspire his new singers to sing in tune, with precision, and musicality. He spoke often of “stepping up to the next level.” He would praise their progress, however slight, and then ask them again to “step up to the next level.” Several weeks into the season one of the oldest, most respected members of the choir came to the new conductor with the news that she was resigning. Somewhat surprised he inquired why. “Well,” she said, “you keep asking us to ‘step up to the next level’ and I’m as high as I can go. Let’s just call it ‘musical arthritis’.”
How many of your community choir singers have musical arthritis? How do you help them step up to the next level? Often a new director is confronted with situations in which the long-time members of the choir cannot take the steps necessary to assist the ensemble’s upward progress.
Many times the musical vision that brought the conductor to the group must be tempered, at least temporarily, with a large dose of social and political reality.
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