“Necessity is the mother of taking chances.” Mark Twain
July is winding down; August is almost here and summer is a bit more than half over. During the month of July, here at Choral Potpourri Blog we’ve tried to get you thinking of ways to hit the ground running this fall. Today, the last Thursday of the month, we’d like you to ask you to think about one more thing; what could you do this fall, this academic/choir year, which would require you to take a chance?
What would happen if you forced yourself to take some other sort of chance, on purpose? Programming a different sort of repertoire on purpose or performing for a different sort of audience could take you out of your comfort zone a bit. These could be small ways of taking a non-threatening chance with your choirs.
Through no fault of our own, occasionally we have to make a choice we would never, not in a million years, have chosen. But it turns out to be the best thing, ever. Such as, our regular venue is not available so we have to find someplace else at the last minute. The new venue, while not our first choice, is better than we thought it would be. We would never have had the opportunity to discover it if it hadn’t been for the flood (or fire or building sale or ????) forcing us to find another venue. The new venue, while perhaps not our first choice, is still a good alternative.
Taking a chance with your choir on purpose can be likened to caring for a rose bush; your rose bush is beautiful but has gotten a little scraggly with age. Doing some pruning in early spring, removing some of the dead wood, can encourage new growth in different areas. The rose thrives. Deadheading the spent blooms as the season progresses along also helps focus the bush’s energy into creating new buds, new potential beautiful blooms.
Doing something different, doing something in another direction can also encourage new growth in your choirs. We all get stuck in a comfortable groove. It’s scary to try something new and different but if we don’t try, we’ll never know.
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