One of the challenges for those of us who conduct is to strike a balance between being appropriately skilled on the podium while still maintaining an openness to new learning opportunities. We all had that professor in college who, when presented with a question they couldn’t answer, would bloviate rather than capitalize on a wonderful opportunity for exploration.
It takes enormous courage to wade into unfamiliar waters, to admit that we might not be an expert in all areas of the art. To fail to explore a corner of our craft solely because we might not have any experience in said arena limits us. It is vital that we continue to be seekers of knowledge, students of the art, ever eager to become better musicians.
A positive and worthwhile way to accomplish this is to start a new ensemble to sing repertoire about which you may know very little. What better way to learn than by diving in the deep end? (In today's Choral Blog, "Why Contemporary A Cappella Matters," J.D. Frizzell examines the value of the form for our students and the larger choral program.)
One choral area that is gaining significant attention beyond the halls of academia is the “A Cappella” movement. Though awkwardly named, the trend features just that: un-accompanied singing with one voice on a part. It’s really nothing new (we can trace singing unaccompanied popular music back to the early Renaissance), but the moment’s sheer popularity thanks to TV’s Sing Off makes it worth investigating. Here is a sample of the form from a recent ACDA conference.
John Briggs says