Choral Ethics: Neighbors

“The more we can be in a relationship with those who might seem strange to us, the more we can feel like we’re neighbors and all members of the human family.” Fred Rogers

It has been a difficult few weeks in some parts of our country. But there is one thing I know; we all have wonderful friends and neighbors. To help combat the wildfires in California, both Canada and Mexico have sent specialized firefighters to help. There are heartwarming stories of neighbors helping neighbors, businesses providing food and shelter to those who have been displaced, houses of worship being welcoming to all and everyone helping their fellow humans. People are generally good, especially during the most trying of times and it is wonderful to see that goodness in action.

We Choral Folk often think about our own part of the world as being ours, and ours alone. When I first began writing the Choral Ethics blog, I used to get many emails from ChoralNetters about choruses “poaching” singers from other choruses in the community. Or choruses poaching directors or accompanists or instrumentalists from other groups. Those emails have slowed down a bit, and I still get the occasional query about similar situations but sometimes in a positive way. Today, I share a story of goodness and kindness in our Choral World.

Several years ago, the director of one of the larger, more elite community choruses in Sven’s* area had a massive health issue. Though in her early fifties, she developed a terrible form of dementia and declined rapidly. During one weekly rehearsal, she was her typical self, the next she was slightly confused and by the third rehearsal the following week, her husband had to come and get her because she was out of control. Sven declined to describe what happened since he was not there and doesn’t think it necessary for the story. According to some of the people there, it was awful.

Sven also directs a community chorus in the area, but his group isn’t nearly as elite or large and there are several of his singers who sing with both groups. One of them spoke to him after a rehearsal several weeks after the other director’s breakdown, asking for help. The chorus’s board wasn’t sure what to do, with a winter concert coming up within weeks, a fund raiser in mid-January for a tour the chorus was meant to take that June, after their spring concert. Sven was asked to help, attending an emergency board meeting the following week.

At the board meeting, two other local choral directors joined Sven. The board stated, though it looked hopeless for their director, they didn’t want to let her go right now. But they also didn’t want to cancel everything that had been planned for two years. So, it was agreed that each one of the directors attending that meeting would take one event—one would direct the winter concert, one would direct the fund-raising performances, and one would direct the spring concert. They would take turns running rehearsals and all would go on the tour.

All went according to plan, with the board beginning a director search right after the first of the year with the blessing of the director’s husband. The three fill-in directors worked well together and with that chorus, in addition to their own, and their own chorus members attended the concerts and events, cheering everyone on. That chorus director was well enough to attend the spring concert, and it was both heartwarming and heartbreaking to have her there. Unfortunately, she died the following fall.

Sven tells me their community of choral folk rallying around for the good of that chorus, helping in a difficult situation, is one of the highlights of his career. The director who replaced that director has been welcomed with open arms by the others and he has been a wonderful addition to their community. The climate and treatment of other choral organizations has also changed radically for the better; there have been some collaborations as well as sharing of resources, especially during the Pandemic. It has become a group of choral folk neighbors, helping other choral folk neighbors, in good times and in bad. Something we all should strive for.

*Name Withheld