Choral Potpourri: New Year’s Resolutions

 

 

January of 2016 is almost upon us. As the old year of 2015 winds down, it is time for reflection. Next week, we will begin another Choral Ethics series so this is the perfect time to begin to think about what we can do to be more ethical choral professionals in the New Year.

 

A new year offers us a wonderful opportunity to take stock of both our personal and professional lives. We can resolve to lose weight or exercise more in our personal life, but how should we decide what to resolve in our Choral Professional life? Knowing what worked and what didn’t in our programs during the past year is an excellent place to begin our professional New Year resolutions. Self-evaluation can also help understand how to be a more ethical choral professional in the coming year by identifying weaknesses and reactions to those weaknesses.

 

It is important to think about our successes but equally important to think about our failures. What do you wish you had done differently this year? Did you behave in a way you regret because of it? What did you do that was outstanding? Did your behavior reflect your success? What are you most proud of this past year and were you boastful or just happy because of it? Sometimes being a good winner is just as important as being a good loser!

 

I always do a self-evaluation after a concert cycle as well as de-brief my choir one-on-one. I am fully aware one-on-one de-briefings don’t work for large ensembles but with my chamber choir, it has been a wonderful evaluation tool. Some of my own choral professional resolutions are a result of my one-on-ones as well as my own self-evaluation. This year, I resolve to delegate more, to talk less in rehearsal and to give more credit to those who deserve it.

 

Do you have any professional New Year resolutions? What are they this year? Do you have any Choral Ethics resolutions? What Choral Ethics dilemmas are of a concern to you this coming year? As always, please feel free to contact me via ChoralNet contacts with your Choral Ethics questions.

 

Until we meet again in the New Year; “we’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne.”