Stick Time: Rehearsals Must Not be Joyless

In our daily rehearsals, choral conductors push, push again, and push some more!  We demand ever-higher levels of musicianship, of poetic communication, and of artistic accomplishment from our choirs.  Some days we’re woodshedding with a chain saw, while on others we’re cutting with a scalpel.  We may fuss endlessly on the release of a single consonant, or shape a vowel to death.  Some among us tend to stop for every single error, no matter how small, to the point where those poor singers never sing a piece all the way through until they are singing for an audience (News Flash: Singers HATE that!).

 

It would seem that in our zeal to make the sound perfect, some colleagues have lost sight of the joy that is inherent in the simple act of singing together with others.

 

The spring semester is the time of year when many choirs tour, sing at conferences, or compete in various competitions. For the conductor it’s a stressful time; but we must NOT project that bulging-veins-in-the-forehead stress upon our singers.  Here then, a little something from an ACDA conference to remind us of some of the fun of singing.  This performance may not be perfect, but it is perfectly delightful.