“Ring out the false, ring in the true.” Alfred Lord Tennyson
Happy New Year, ChoralNetters! I hope you had a pleasant holiday season or as pleasant as it was able to be. A New Year is here, and with that, a hope for a better year for ALL of us. We just need to help it along somehow.
How are things going for you? Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Are you struggling? How is your choir? Are you able to be in contact with most of your singers? Is your position in jeopardy? Are you able to do a bit of your job, if only by Zoom?
Like many of you, I’ve struggled this holiday season. For the first time in DECADES, I did not have a holiday gig of any sort. I haven’t been exactly sad but more melancholy-like than anything else. I know things are getting better with a vaccine, health care workers and the most vulnerable among us getting theirs before the rest of us. But I still struggle as we all wait to begin singing again.
To begin this year of uncertainty, I thought it would be productive for me, and for all of you, to re-visit some of our most discussed Choral Ethics dilemmas. And, as I always like to use an epigram of some sort to begin or introduce our topics, thought I would choose four of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s most appropriate quotes this January. Today’s epigram (and title) is taken from Lord Tennyson’s poem, “Ring Out, Wild Bells,” and forms part of “In Memoriam,” his elegy to Arthur Henry Hallam, his sister’s fiancé who died at age 22. Most appropriate this year, his poem speaks of leaving the past and destructive beliefs behind, looking toward the future for healing and renewal. A lovely image to begin a New Year and especially THIS NEW YEAR!
To begin my New Year, I plan to study new repertoire, brush up on some of my foreign language skills and get back to basics while I wait to rehearse again. What do YOU plan to do as we begin this New Year?
Until next week, be well and be safe.
I am taking my Choral Ethics Blogs to my chamber choir’s Facebook page for the foreseeable future. Please join me there this morning! https://www.facebook.com/themidwestmotetsociety/
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