The Changing Paradigm of Professional Singing

The December 2015 issue of Choral Journal featured an interesting conversation with top conductors and singers in the United States. The panel included four conductors—Simon Carrington, Joshua Habermann, Simon Halsey, and Craig Hella Johnson—and five singers—Dashon Burton, Esteli Gomez, Kathryn Lewek, Kelley O’Connor, and Kyle Stegall.

The author asked the panel questions about, among others, what qualities and skills make a singer marketable as a full-time professional musician and how conductors can better prepare young singers for careers in the field. The subject of today’s ChoralNet blog is this question: What changes do you see happening in music (both solo and ensemble) over the next fifty years?

Below are just a few of the responses from those on the panel. The full article is available by clicking here to download as a PDF or read in e-format online. (Note: You must be logged into the acda.org site as a member in order to access the Choral Journal online.)

Simon Halsey: I think music will move even further toward freelance work. Musicians will have a greater need to be multi-skilled and will probably need to get more involved in youth and community work as well.

Craig Hella Johnson: The level of professional choral music is growing and improving consistently, and I fully expect that the results of this will be that a great many more people in more cities will be able to hear choral music making at this level.

Esteli Gomez: I’m excited by the possibility of big changes in the way classical singers are trained and treated in the United States… I believe that new venues and opportunities for presenting fusion musical/performance experiences will continue to flourish.

Kyle Stegall: I believe the next few decades will see a significant increase in public interest in new compositions… Whenever a people need a voice, whenever a larger audience needs to be reached with a message of hope and change, music will be there… All positive change starts with communication, and nothing communicates like music.

Click here to read the full article with useful and fascinating answers to many more questions.

Your turn! What changes do you see happening in solo and ensemble music over the next few decades?