Choral Ethics: Cleaning House

“Life is denied by lack of attention, whether it be to cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece.” Nadia Boulanger

 The choral year has ended for most of us. The last concerts happened long ago, grades have been turned in and worship services requiring special music have occurred during the last few weeks. Unless our ensemble is going on a concert tour over the summer, we are finished until autumn. Or are we?

Summer, for me, has always been the time of year I get the most work done for my choirs. I try to program two years in advance, so this is the time of year I make sure I’ve ordered enough hard copies of music that I’ve programmed. I look two years in the future for programming ideas, such as composers important birth anniversaries or death anniversaries, and I do some research for the upcoming concert year’s repertoire. Or I may rethink a particular selection for the upcoming concert cycles if the personnel for my chamber choir has changed significantly. I might take a class, go to a conference or a retreat to inspire me in different aspects of our profession.

However, the most important thing I do in the summer is “clean house” for my ensembles. I file music, recycle leftover concert programs and choir handouts. I make sure concert venues are booked and decide if I need–and if I do, how many–extra musicians for a particular programmed work. I hold in-person individual singer “debriefings,” consisting of some standard questions as well as questions unique to the concert cycle we just completed. I look through and reflect on my singers’ responses. I schedule audition dates and choir retreat dates.

It might sound like I am very busy but I’m really not. I have learned to spend only a few hours, a few days a week with these tasks, spaced out across a period of about six weeks so I can relax for a few weeks before everything begins again. I start with the truly “busy work” of filing music and recycling papers because it makes me feel—and it looks–like I’ve accomplished something. I’m always thinking about repertoire, and I jot down ideas that occur as I file recently performed music. And I prepare file envelopes for the new music, then file them so I know where to put my hands on it when I need it.

Doing this busy work during the summer has held me in good stead through the years. There is usually no rush to complete many of these tasks, so I take my time, gradually accomplishing all with no pressure. Of course during each concert cycle, I try to “file as I go,” so there are no piles of unfiled music on my piano, but sometimes, during rehearsals with unforeseen twists and turns, it gets away from me. As soon as I am able, I get things straightened up.

In summer, my goal is to be able to start fresh and hit the ground running in the autumn. Most years, I do.

What do you do during the summer to make your life easier? Please share.

Please note, beginning next week, I will be posting Choral Ethics repeats for the rest of the summer. I’ll see you in autumn for the beginning of the tenth season of Choral Ethics. Have a great summer!