Innovation, Hope, and Other Important Concepts/Lessons

This year, I decided to take a vacation after Holy Week and Easter, so I have more mental bandwidth than the past 2 – 3 weeks. As I learned from 2020, if I go too long without time off, stress builds up. With all the activity this calendar year such as The Secret Garden and my voice recital, I knew I would need some time off mid-spring. In the future, I plan on pacing myself more so I can take equivalent vacation time after the program year is wrapped up.

In this post, I thought I would write about lessons I’ve been reminded of recently and roles a choir director plays, especially as a church musician. For this vacation, I’m spending 3 full days in Seattle and 7 days in Vancouver, British Columbia. Today was cool and drizzling, which for me is good weather to slow down and reflect.

Yesterday, I went to the impressive Chihuly Museum, which features gigantic glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly. You can see some of the works on the museum website.

https://www.chihuly.com/

While I know practically nothing about glass blowing, I could appreciate the creativity, skill, and talent it took to create so many sculptures. In addition, there was a video that talked about the background of the various exhibits at the museum. Amazingly, Chihuly used 300 different colors as options for one of the sculptures! It made me think that as a choral conductor, there are so many unique possibilities for vocal timbre for any single piece. From my perspective, a big limitation can be too small of an imagination. I was also impressed by the artist’s courage to try almost anything, a reminder to give myself permission to try new things. After I return from vacation I plan on looking at anthems and programming with fresh eyes and new possibilities. While there may be beloved traditions in our programs, we’re still innovators in order to best serve the singers we currently have.

Although you may not direct a choir in a church environment, there are still opportunities to care for ensemble members and provide hope in dark times. As a church musician, spirituality is a concept I think about. At my church, as the Senior Pastor mentioned on Easter, this has felt like a uniquely odd Holy Week and Easter, especially with so many momentous events happening across the globe from war in Ukraine to tornadoes in Iowa and various laws targeting the LGBT community. Plus, all of this juxtaposed against the celebration of Easter Sunday! In stressful times such as these, a choir director can serve as a spiritual guide. Regardless of what type of choir we direct, we can remind an ensemble to find hope in unlikely places. Thankfully, as we are in the season of Easter now, there are a plethora of anthems that proclaim Jesus’ resurrection.

Recently at church, I was reminded of the importance of having choir members sing with their whole selves. To quote the late children’s choir director extraordinaire Helen Kemp “Body, mind, spirit, voice, it takes the whole person to sing a rejoice!” In choirs I direct, something I strive to do is help singers connect to the breath at all times. I have found this positively impacts a good number of vocal concepts, especially rhythm and intonation. In my opinion, on a deeply human level, staying grounded in the body helps reduce perfectionism. This leads to a greater capacity to take risks while singing and creating an environment where it’s OK to make mistakes. On Easter Sunday, the Adult Choir sang two very different anthems that had different needs for rhythm, musicality, and breath. During warm-ups that morning, I made sure to focus on what those contrasts were. It made for a very exciting and celebratory Easter Sunday!

It feels amazing to complete an important project or event such as Holy Week/Easter or a concert. I’ll admit that my default sometimes goes to “Next time x, y, z could be improved by doing 1, 2, 3.” While I think it’s important to think about how to improve, at the same time, it’s also good to celebrate having completed those projects. Choir members appreciate celebrating as well. Along with celebrating a job well done, I’m shifting my mindset in terms of propelling forward with concepts. For example, rather than simply thinking “That piece is now in the past, let’s move on”, I’m thinking more along the lines of “what concepts could we transfer to or contrast with the next piece?”

After I return from vacation, I’d really like to dial into two concepts. One is focusing more on the mission and values of ensembles I direct. Back in the fall during the Adult Choir retreat, we discussed mission, values, and ways of building trust. I have those notes compiled and need to condense them into succinct, actionable statements that I’d share with the ensemble. I’m especially looking forward to sharing those values and missional statements anytime a new singer joins so they know what’s expected of them. A second idea is staying present. Sometimes 1 – 2 weeks before a major event, service, or concert, I’m already thinking about the next big service or concert. I’d love to be more present in every rehearsal, service, and preparation for a big event. If you have ideas about staying present, comment below!