Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Listening 2

“If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.” Robert Baden-Powell

Last week, Choral Ethics began a new series on listening, a very important skill for a choral musician, or ANY musician, to have. I listed a few types of listening skills and blogged about another type, letting the story ChoralNetter Pippa* shared with me take the lead. Her story was about her frustration with her community chorus’s lack of attention to spoken instructions and details and how she solved them, for the most part, gradually. These solutions, Pippa tells me, would never have evolved without the COVID restrictions in their community. This is non-musical listening but very important, nevertheless.

Another type of non-musical listening skill choral professionals must possess also concerns how we respond and handle suggestions, comments and criticisms from our singers. Going back to Pippa, if we expect our singers to listen to our instructions, then we should listen to their concerns as well. If we schedule an important rehearsal on a day ninety percent of our chorus cannot attend because of a well-known conflict, have we really listened to them? If we choose music most do not want to sing, are we listening? If we refuse to acknowledge a difficult passage, or pronunciation or not answer fully when asked who is singing which divisi, are we listening?

Craig* tells me he’s been guilty of not listening to his church choir.  He’s scheduled extra rehearsals for special Holy Week music on the local Little League’s opening day—at the exact same time as their colorful parade—two years in a row. His choir asked for a different date, or time, but he refused and only three people showed up. His choir is up for almost any type of music, and are skilled enough to do most well, but there have been one or two times he’s misjudged their abilities. Several singers expressed their concerns, but he refused to listen to them, and the piece didn’t go well. He shared other examples of his not listening to his choir with me, but wanted to tell me about how he finally recognized and resolved his own lousy listening.

Last summer, Craig and his Pastor met for their usual yearly planning session. The Pastor mentioned that several choir members shared their concerns about the Lenten/Easter music rehearsal conflict. He asked him how they could resolve it. Craig mentioned not being willing to change the date, since that Saturday morning works for him and the choir can reschedule their conflicts. Pastor suggested that the choir members could NOT reschedule a community event. And if Craig wanted younger people who are parents to be part of his choir, he could look how to make it work HIMSELF. It was a simple matter of scheduling this all-important special music rehearsal on a different day. That day was last Saturday. Craig tells me everyone attended, and it was the best rehearsal they’ve ever had. And since last summer and the heart-to-heart conversation he had with his boss, many things became better since he resolved to listen, really listen, to his choir.

Do any of you have some suggestions on how we can listen better to our ensembles? Have you done something that has made a difference, however small, in your own work? Please share in the comments below.

*Name Withheld