Male singers are like dollar bills. We never seem to have enough. Choral conductors have been dealing with this problem for centuries; certainly we have commented about it time, after time.
What’s a choral educator to do with only a handful of male singers bobbing helplessly amid a sea of female voices? One possibility might be to utilize personnel resources in a realistic manner. Rather than trying to form a large SATB choir with only a handful of men, separate the ladies and gentlemen into two separate choirs. The students will then have the chance to sing in a single-gender choir in which they can enjoy success, as opposed to struggling in a woefully out-of-balance mixed chorus.
“But, Scott, what can you do with just a few guys?” Thanks for asking.
Here is a performance by an eight-voice male ensemble from a recent ACDA Divisional Conference. Yes, we grant you that these are extremely talented fellows, but it wasn’t so very long ago that each of their voices resembled a bowl of Rice Krispies®: “Snap! Crackle! Pop!”
Ponder, then, what YOU could do with a small group of male singers. Oh, and pass the milk, please . . .
Sheila Johnson says
Sheila Johnson
Joyce Keil says