Choral Potpourri: Using Our Skills in Other Ways

 

 

“If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do.” Lucille Ball
 

Right about now we are all gearing up for the next six or seven weeks of insanity. Our concerts loom ahead and so does the end of the semester. The holidays are coming, so in addition to our concerts, we may be Fa-La-La-ing (or not) in our lives outside of work. After our concerts and semesters, we may be able to take a breather…if we don’t have a church job.  If we have a church job, it won’t be until after December 26 we will be able to relax. How do we do it all? Well, you tell me.

 

Earlier this fall, I overheard a phone conversation of one of my sons. He surprised me by telling the person he was speaking to he would ask his Mom how to do it, since she always makes things happen. I asked him what he meant. He told me he thought I always get the job done, no matter what and that’s true. I look at a problem, any deadlines, who (and what) I have to work with and make a plan (with steps) to get it done. That’s pretty much sums up my life, the choral portion and the non-choral portion. The music is the easy part; it is those little things no one tells you about that can make or break you. I believe the skills I’ve developed in our profession help me in my other roles as spouse, mother, daughter and daughter-in-law, sister and “domestic engineer.” Using my choral director skills has helped me to be ABLE to do everything I would like to do as well as things that come up at the last minute.

 

I have thought about the specific skills we develop as choral directors/conductors which transfer easily over to our civilian lives and have come up with three:

 

 

We have to have a clear vision of what we want, how to get it and a history of success with putting the vision into practice. Knowledge of repertoire and what our ensembles are capable of helps with vision, but we need to be realistic as well. We have to deal with the here and now for our vision to become reality. Having a vision can transfer over to our “real” lives when we think about a vacation or a dinner party or painting the den; we may have the vision but should also know what we are capable of at the time to be able to realize that vision.

 

We have to be planners in our profession. I have a concert timeline, as I am sure many of you do. I am able to know what needs to be done for this concert (and who is supposed to do it) and where on the timeline I should be NOW in regards to the next. How many of you are already planning for fall and winter of 2016 and beyond? I’m sure most, if not all of you. Our ability to plan transfers over in so many ways to our everyday lives. In our professional life, we know how many rehearsals it will take for our ensemble to have a good concert and in our regular lives; we know how much time it takes to do dishes. In our professional life, if we don’t know what we are programming, we can’t order music and in our civilian life, if we didn’t buy bread, we can’t make sandwiches.

 

We have to be managers of detail in our profession. Though we may not always get our hands dirty with the nitty-gritty, we make sure the nitty-gritty gets done. Risers and sound systems and props and programs; someone has to make sure we have them or can get them in time for our concerts. Double or triple those details if we are going on tour. We also need to know what needs to be done, so it can be done. Most of us have learned the hard way when details fall through the cracks someone pays, usually us. Your mother-in-law’s birthday occurs the same day every year, someone needs to send her a card….is it you?

 

What skills have you developed being choral director that you believe help your everyday life? Do you use any strategy from your civilian life in your choral life? Remember to breathe and enjoy the next few weeks……you’ve earned it!