You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.
Marcus Aurelius (2nd century Stoic philosopher)
We are in the final stages of the academic year and concert season, starting to feel the call of spring and summer when we have a little more space, some time to breathe, even as we are still busy with life. Thinking of that time ahead can be encouraging, maybe it even leads to a daydream or two . . . but for now, staying on mission and finishing strong is our main goal.
How do we finish strong? What does this mean for choirs and conductors who have seen all manner of instability and adaptation in the last two years and are still not operating as we once were?
Finishing strong starts by acknowledging what we can control and what we can’t. As much as we hate to admit it, we cannot guarantee a great performance or rosters full of eager and capable singers. What we can control are our actions and attitudes, our behaviors and beliefs that have the potential to get us to an external goal. And this is a lot. Actually, it is everything.
Finishing strong depends on personal rejuvenation. To rejuvenate is to refresh, to restore, to invigorate (think “imbue with vigor”). We can’t give what we don’t have so let’s start by looking inward to create renewal on a personal level. Positive change in our thinking, re-evaluating how we spend our time and effort, and lightening up in any way we can, including cleaning through our physical spaces, produce energy that comes from clarity and release. Doing something new and doing less of what doesn’t serve us anymore means seeing with fresh eyes, which can revive our approach to our professional work.
Finishing strong thrives on stability wherever we can find it. A good workout or yoga practice always attends to the core, the part of our body that stabilizes and strengthens. With a strong core, more is possible, and injury is less likely to happen. Same with our mental and emotional life. Our relationships, our faith, the wisdom of the sages and the ages, or the most inspiring TED talk can help strengthen our personal core and provide a sense of stability from which we can act.
Finishing strong requires creativity and wise and humble choices. Strength is not always about holding on; sometimes it is in letting go that we find a whole new territory of creativity. It’s not too late to make choices about your final performances, whether that means dropping or substituting a piece, changing the concert format, or bringing in a guest. Honor what is, not what used to be, and see if that better serves the singers in front of you today. Acknowledge the pandemic era elephants in the room without lingering over what you don’t have right now. Write or share program notes that glue the repertoire together, even if our choices this year were very different to rebuild the atrophied skill of the singers or our unstable rosters. There is always a creative way to weave pieces together to tell the story of how they reflect the choir, the singers’ growth, and the era we are in. Find a positive spin as you tell the narrative we have built together and are living through—still standing.
Finishing strong is built on trust. We have to trust that we possess what we need to do the work and to adjust our strategies when life goes sideways. We have to trust that our well-intended actions have created good karma, returning good from good. We have to trust that imperfect (as everything is) does not mean unworthy, purposeless, or poor quality. And we have to trust in something greater than ourselves, knowing that we are a part of a much bigger human story that will not be fully written without our contribution.
You can finish strong this year. Rejuvenate, stabilize, create, and trust. Stay with it and you may find you are on the cusp of something much bigger than you envision.
When you go through a hard period, when everything seems to oppose you . . .
When you feel you cannot even bear one more minute, never give up!
Because it is the time and place that the course will divert!
Rumi (13th century scholar, poet, and mystic)
Dr. Ramona Wis is the Mimi Rolland Endowed Professor in the Fine Arts, Professor of Music, and Director of Choral Activities at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois and the author of The Conductor as Leader: Principles of Leadership Applied to Life on the Podium. Dr. Wis is a 500-hour CYT (Certified Yoga Teacher) with training in yoga history, philosophy, meditation, energetics, pranayama (breath work), anatomy, Sanskrit, and the teaching, sequencing, and adaptations of asana (posture-based) practice. Reach her at:
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