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For Singers: Don’t Relax, Worry

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“If you’re nervous, that means you care and you want to give your best.” – Adriana Lima

Whether you’ve been singing since Beethoven figured out which end of the pen the ink went on or this is your first performance ever, concert night can (will) bring on the nerves. It’s natural; for months, you’ve been singing in a room with your friends feeling safe and secure and now you’re going to be standing up in front of hundreds of people in a great big room where everything is different. Yikes! Here are some of the things that you are CERTAIN are happening, but I promise, none of them are true (the nervous brain has a whole bag of dirty tricks to play):

– Everyone in the audience is looking directly at YOU.
– Every time you miss a note, even a little, everyone in the audience will hear it.
– Your voice has never sounded worse and you KNOW that if you sing loud it will sound like a mule that just got stung by a bee.
– There can’t possibly be enough oxygen in the room for everyone and you’re NOT getting YOUR SHARE.
– Everybody else looks calm and cool and collected and NOBODY ELSE IS NERVOUS and can’t they see what’s going on?
– You look down at your music and it feels like you’ve never sung that song before. Ever.

You’ll also notice that the lights are too bright, the audience looks fuzzy, your knees are a little rubbery, and there’s a really irritating drop of sweat making an agonizingly slow journey down the middle of your back. If you’re a really skittish person, you may feel like running into a dark corner and curling up into a fetal position; if you’re not, you’re still going to be mad at yourself for being such a wuss.

Well congratulations, you are officially a normal human being. I’ve been singing and directing in front of people for over 40 years and still get a minor case of the willies before every performance. Just like you (and everybody else), my hypothalamus tells my adrenal gland to wake up and get busy. The heart rate and respiration bump up a notch (which doesn’t help matters at all, really) and perceptions sharpen. Everything looks and sounds just a little funky (which also doesn’t help matters at all).

So here’s the good news: you were just handed a magic bullet to make this performance epic. Adrenaline makes you into a super-you and if you direct that superness (is that a word?), your nerves become a tool for good things to happen. So how do you do that?

– Narrow your focus on the conductor. She or he is your guide and you’ll feed on each other’s strength (if you don’t think she/he can see that energy in you, think again). Trust her/him to be that guide.
– Return that focus back to yourself from time to time. Find that calm, educated, well-prepared singer inside you and say hello.
– Control your breath. If nerves have cranked it up, turn it back down. You don’t really need all that extra air. Try taking a slow, deep breath and let it out gently. Relax your shoulders and your neck (you didn’t even notice they were clenched, did you?). Do a quick inventory and relax anything else that is unnecessarily tightened up (hint…your okole). (Note: for the non-Hawaiians out there, the okole is the part of your anatomy you sit on…)
– News flash: adrenaline is really fun. Why do you think people go bungee jumping? I launched myself into the air from 250’ up once with that big ol’ rubber band on my feet and the buzz lasted for three days. You just got a rocket booster, so use it. Direct that energy into focus, use that focus to concentrate on your singing, the quality of the dynamics, all of the nuances that your conductor has been teaching you. Harness that nervous energy. You’ll find it brings power. It will also help to bring on the one big thing:
– SMILE! Nobody knows if your smile is because you’re seconds away from screaming and running in circles or because you’re really happy. You can fool yourself into sliding over into the happy side of the house by showing some teeth.

Finally, some things to remember:

– Yes, you do know your music. Relax. When that first note rolls out of your throat you’ll slide right into that familiar place. That’s why you rehearse.
– Be aware of the people around you. You’ve been together for months, you’re more than a choir. You’re surrounded by friends with the same mission and you’re ALL cranked up a notch. Allow that umbrella of love and support to cover you along with them and sing as one voice.
– Guess what…the audience WANTS you to be awesome. They’re here to be entertained and moved and have given you the gift of their precious time. They’ll never notice a wrong note, they usually don’t know what the right ones are.
– Guess what…the audience is another magic bullet. Their energy is fun, too. Watch their faces as they applaud; smile and acknowledge them. You’ll find yourself feeding off their enjoyment and THAT is really cool.

After the last note fades you’ll feel all that tension slide to the floor, leaving a nice little endorphin buzz and an overall feeling of calm and happiness. You may even find yourself shedding an emotional tear. You’ll be surrounded by friends and family and smiling people you’ve never met, all of them thanking you for the gift you gave them.

The concert experience is where we all truly share in the joy of Music.

__________________________

Briggs Christie is a member and blogger for the Windward Choral Society in Kailua, O’ahu, HI. You can find the original post or more writings by Briggs here.

The Four Functions of a Church Choir

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Since starting at my current church, the choir has rallied behind four “functions” of a church choir and has been central in helping the church become what song-enliveners affectionately call a “singing congregation.” As the director of a church choir I use four functions to explain why the church choir exists. Those priorities help determine the programmatic choices that our music ministry makes. The functions are in a specific priority order, but I also believe each function is equally important as they must be present to have a vital music ministry. The four functions are to lead and enliven the congregation’s song, to sing music that the congregation cannot, to serve as a small-group within the church for faith formation, and to sing beautiful and challenging music to glorify God and to edify the congregation.

1. The church choir leads and enlivens the congregation’s song

This may come as a surprise to some readers that the first and most important function of the church choir is to lead the congregation’s song. It is important, however, that this be the top priority. Let’s not forget that without a congregation, there could not be a church choir! The singing group would instead be a community choir. But why is it important that the congregation’s song be supported instead of just focusing on the church choir’s musical success? Choral musicians inherently know the answer. We become what we sing. When we take words and put them to music, it becomes part of who we are. Therefore, it becomes imperative that we put as much of the Word into the bodies of the congregation as possible. If the congregation can sing it but we don’t let them, we miss an opportunity to transform people’s lives in the most direct way possible. By giving the congregation new singing skills and confidence, we empower them for the rest of their lives to better embody God’s word through music.

Therefore, taking our cue from the great church musician John Ferguson, it is important to view the congregation as the “big choir,” and the church choir as the “little choir,” or as I like to think of it, my chamber group. I often utilize my choir as “section leaders,” positioning them around the congregation strategically to support the parts that I’m teaching for a congregational hymn or song. I have the choir stand in front of the congregation to lead them in rounds and canons. They become active leaders in building up the congregation’s song. By doing this, the congregation is prepared for discipleship through the soul-embracing power of song.

2. The church choir sings music that the congregation cannot

Let’s be real. There’s lots of great music that needs to be sung that just cannot reasonably be done by a congregation. Whether it’s too complex to be done by untrained musicians, or just too difficult to be done without extensive rehearsal, there’s a lot of music that cannot or should not be done by a congregation. That’s why this function is number two on the list. There are some texts set to challenging music that congregations need to hear, whether it’s because it is comforting in times of crises, praising in times of joy, or inspiring in times of apathy. By spending the time and effort to rehearse each week, the choir provides a great service to the congregation by opening up the amount of literature the congregation can be exposed to. Used appropriately, this has significant theological and musical implications, broadening the congregation’s experience of the divine.

3. The church choir serves as a small-group within the church for faith formation

I imagine that we all have stories about our choral groups taking care of each other or holding someone up in a time of need. When we sing together, a bond is created that unites us unlike any other activity. In a church setting, this function can be intentionally formed and nurtured. Because we meet together once a week to do work for the glory of God and benefit of neighbor, taking care of each other is no longer an option, it’s a responsibility. As the leader of this small-group, a church choir director’s job is no longer limited to musical direction, but also spiritual direction. This doesn’t mean you’re responsible for giving a sermon each week or listening to people’s confessions, but it does mean that you are charged with ensuring your group enacts the Word you sing week in and week out. A great example of this is the familiar Latin text “Ubi Caritas,” something that most church choirs have sung at one time or another:

“Where charity and love are, God is there. Christ’s love has gathered us into one. Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him. Let us fear, and let us love the living God. And may we love each other with a sincere heart.”

Because we sing this text often as a biblical witness to the congregation, I expect my singers to treat each other with “charity and love.” I expect them to act like “Christ’s love has gathered us into one.” What I find is that my expectations are almost always met because the majority of my singers have been singing their faith for decades and have already been formed by the church’s song. I also always hold myself to the same standard, striving to be an example of showing love and charity while seeking musical excellence. By expecting myself and my choir to act out what we sing, the choir naturally takes care of each other. I rarely have to ask for food to be brought or people to be prayed for because before I can bring it up someone from the group has already asked for it to be done by their fellow choir members. It’s a witness that is refreshing to see each and every year I direct.

4. The church choir sings beautiful and challenging music to praise God and edify the congregation

The music that we create should be beautiful and challenging. This is where the majority of our rehearsal time is taken up, because singing challenging music beautifully is difficult to do and takes lots of practice. It is important that when we sing we sing beautifully, because it touches people’s souls. The reason that we work so hard to create beautiful music together is so that we can glorify God and help people experience a holy moment. On the opposite end of the spectrum, it is important that our singing is not distracting and therefore prevent people from having a holy moment. I find that one of the best motivations for my choir when rehearsal is getting into the nitty-gritty, is to say something like, “This is a moment where we can touch someone and help them have a moment with God.” Reminding the choir that by changing these little musical details can make the difference in someone’s spiritual life goes a long way to power through tough rehearsal moments. It is important, however, that the first three priorities in this article are not forgotten when digging deeper and deeper into the rehearsal process to try and achieve our most beautiful sounds. A church choir’s job is not just to sing beautifully, but rather it is to minister to the congregation and to each other in a variety of ways, helping to change the world into a more loving and peaceful place.

By taking these four functions and letting them guide your program’s decision making, you ensure that the choir serves as a conduit of faith for both your congregation and choir members. By telling your choristers that this is what and why they do what they do, it gives them a framework to express the importance of the church choir and be an advocate for music ministry. Most importantly, I hope that these four functions can enliven your congregation’s singing through the faithful discipleship of your church choir members.

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brian-hehn  Brian Hehn is Director of Music Ministry for Arapaho United Methodist Church in Richardson, TX, and serves on the Executive Board of The Hymn Society of the United States and Canada.

For Singers: The Concert is WHEN?

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“Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” – Robert H. Schuller

There are two answers to the question, “What’s happening tomorrow?” if it’s posed to a member of a chorus the night before a concert:

  1. “We have a concert tomorrow night, I can’t wait.”
  2. “We have a concert tomorrow night…what do I do? AUGH!!!”

There are some simple answers to that second one; let’s explore a bit.

The night before the concert

It’s just another evening, you know. Tomorrow things are going to get a little bit nuts, but not tonight. Make an effort to keep it that way, especially if this is your first big performance. Some things that will help smooth the bumps:

– Have a good, healthy evening meal. There are those who would say “pound those carbs” and there’s nothing wrong with that. They create a little energy reserve you can use later…but I find I end up feeling a little sluggish if I have a big bowl of pasta. Regardless of the main course, make a point of eating fresh fruit and veggies. A little extra fiber is a good thing for that soon-to-be-a-little-fluttery tummy. Don’t go for crazy spicy…it can remind you of itself tomorrow.

– Prep your clothes for the concert. I always iron my shirt and pants the night before and hang them to wait for me. It’s one less thing to have to mess with the next day. Have your music folder and whatever else you need all set up and ready to go so there’s nothing to stress about.

– Don’t have that second glass of wine (even though it really sounds delightful). Have some extra water instead, you’re going to want to be nice and hydrated tomorrow and an early start on that is a good strategy. Even though alcohol helps you to doze off quickly it actually has a negative effect on the overall quality of the rest you get (I could rattle on about REM sleep and all that stuff, but just take my word for it). I’m also a big fan of decaffeinated mint tea.

– Speaking of rest, get a good dose of it. Tomorrow’s concert is after a full day of whatever it is you normally do and will get started at just about the time you normally put your feet up and watch a little TV or some other not-so-strenuous activity. If you can, go to bed a little early. A sneaky little trick I’ve learned over the years (because I’m one of those guys who can easily end up staring at the ceiling thinking about the show the next day): take a nice hot bath or shower a little while before you go to bed. Works like a charm. Zzzzzz.

The night of the concert

– Don’t skip dinner! Don’t eat an entire side of beef, but feed the machine. The only thing worse than butterflies is butterflies on an empty stomach. Stomach acid is no fun when you’re trying to sing. Been there, urped that.

– Keep the water flowing; you need to be hydrated more than you normally would be. All of the evil things that leech water out of you are coming to visit: adrenaline, extra exertion at a normally restful time of day, sweating for a good long time – you get the picture. Water is your very best friend.

– Don’t be late. Have all your stuff ready, but also think your way through the timing of things to make sure you have all the minutes necessary. Being on time is not only respectful to the rest of the group, it also avoids the first little nibble of anxiety that can creep in because you’re rushing.

“Some people are making such thorough preparation for rainy days that they aren’t enjoying today’s sunshine.” – William Feather

– Have fun! You’re surrounded by people who have become your friends in a special and unique way. You make magic together and call it music. You’ve been working to get to this evening for a long time and you’ve earned your place and deserve to be here (even if you don’t really believe it). Everybody else is amped up too; have some laughs.

Most importantly, at least in your Blogmeister’s humble opinion, take a moment to stop. Find a quiet spot and just stop. Not for long, just long enough to gather yourself into yourself and think about the journey that brought you to concert night. Hard work, a little frustration, lots of laughter, moments of emotion, singing “Happy Birthday”, the conductor’s unique style, the accompanist being grumpy. Enjoy that little smile it’s sure to bring and, just before you dive back into the craziness, remind yourself that what you’re doing is important. The arts matter and you are part of why.

You’re ready. Go and sing. It’ll be awesome.

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.” – Plato

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Briggs Christie is a member and blogger for the Windward Choral Society in Kailua, O’ahu, HI. You can find the original post or more writings by Briggs here.

The Challenges…and Joys…of Traveling with an Older Choir

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I’ve got the travel bug…and, luckily, I conduct an adult community choir filled with plenty of women who feel the same way I do about seeing the world. So many countries, so little time.

In the four years since I founded the Bucks County Women’s Chorus we’ve embarked on two international tours. The first took us to Northern Italy in 2014 and the second to Budapest, Vienna, and Salzburg this past spring. Each trip had its special rewards and its unique challenges, and we certainly learned a lot about traveling with a choir with an average age of about 60-65.

As far as performance tour companies are concerned, my choir is rather an oddity. Many of them work primarily with high school and college musical ensembles, though most have had some experience with adult choirs. Nonetheless, to truly organize and pull off a tour that’s older adult-friendly, tour organizers need to listen closely about the limitations of the group and must consider a variety of issues as they craft the itinerary. Only then will you have a tour that fits your needs and makes your singers happy.

Here’s what I found to be the most important considerations when organizing a tour for “my ladies”, many of whom are already avid travelers but are largely used to touring at their own pace.

  1. Is your destination travel-friendly for older adults? In other words, will they be exhausted by the terrain (note: remind me to tell you about our day in Venice) and the demands of traveling in that particular location? Also, keep in mind issues such as if your buses can get close to the venues for your concerts/activities or if a long walk is required. Ask if there are ample places to rest during walks or other recreation. All these answers can help you decide whether you’re considering the right tour destination for your older choir.
  2. Is there enough downtime built into the itinerary? Look at the schedule for each day and compare sitting time to active time. If you’re going strong for more than four hours at a time, you may need to do some rearranging. Also, try not to stuff too much into one tour. On our first trip, we packed Verona, Venice, Florence, San Gimignano, Siena, Lucca, and Rome into 8 days. Too much, too fast! Not only were we exhausted but we never truly got to know any of those places.
  3. Is your tour guide/manager familiar with the needs of an older choir? This is a biggie! On our trip to Italy our lovely manager was a young woman who seemed not to be in tune with what was required to lead an older group through the rough terrain of Italy. While she was vibrant and excited and we all grew quite fond of her, we often found her literally two blocks ahead of us and simply couldn’t handle her pace. On our most recent trip, the tour manager – a young man of about 30 – seemed to understand that we had to make more bathroom stops, needed more time to get from one place to another, and required some extra pampering. (He even brought us cookies and other treats and travel books for our longer bus rides.) The result was a very happy group of travelers and a very large tip for the manager.
  4. Do the restaurants offer plenty of alternatives? With an older group, you’re more likely to encounter individuals with dietary constraints such as the diabetic, the person who is on a low-salt diet, or the vegetarian. Ask to see the menus for those who need special attention to determine that they’re not getting the short end of the stick, with meals that are less than appetizing.
  5. Are the hotels suitable for more discerning tastes? For adult choirs, you may need to increase the budget for hotels a bit. My choir – while not at all spoiled – wants a comfortable place to stay that includes some nice amenities. For example, our hotel in Budapest – the Radisson Blu Beke – gave us a killer buffet breakfast each morning and offered a beautiful restaurant and bar as well. Also, ask for hotels in the city center, whenever possible, which makes it easy for your singers to wander out of their own during free time without having to worry about public transportation.
  6. Are your concerts organized strategically? Older singers need some recovery time before launching into a concert. A day of travel demands some rest time afterwards when you’re over 50. Don’t plan a concert for your first tour day and – certainly – don’t plan one for the last either, when everyone is exhausted and ready to pack up and head home.

A lot of the things we did wrong on our first trip were corrected on our most recent tour, thanks to a tour company that truly took time to get to know us as they were penning the itinerary. Did we slip up here and there? Probably, but the joy of traveling together, singing for international audiences, and getting to know each other intimately far outweighed the mistakes. Now we look back at the photos and laugh, we remember the applause and smile, we recall the beauty of the places we visited and the people we met and a tear forms in the corner of our eye.

And even if our ankles swell to three times their normal size, chances are we’ll do it all again.

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pat-guth-headshot  Patricia Guth is the Founder and Artistic Director for the Bucks County Women’s Chorus in Holland, PA. More information about Pat and her singers can be found here.

Singing for a New World

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At the most recent NATS conference there was a featured concert led by Met Opera star Renée Fleming. She often ends concerts with a sing-a-long number, and at this concert she led the audience of singing teachers in “I Could Have Danced All Night.” Then she spoke to the crowd about the most recent shooting incident in our nation, and how perhaps we needed to sing “Let There Be Peace on Earth” together. It was very moving. After the concert I immediately took to Facebook, declaring, “People who sing together don’t shoot each other.”

We know how important singing can be in the lives of those we teach. Whether they are aspiring performers, established professionals, or just enthusiastic amateurs, all of our students and choir members find challenges, opportunities for fulfillment, and moments of great joy in the act of singing.

Our culture has become less and less vocal: texting and e-mail are many individuals’ standard mode of communication. Even in traditional musical settings, people are less participatory as singers; there seems to be a division between those who perform and those who act as spectators to the performance. We Americans need to sing together more.

There are health, social, and spiritual benefits to singing. For example, Stephen Clift in the U.K. has been studying the use of singing classes to help COPD patients increase their lung function. Betty Bailey and Jane Davidson studied a choir in Montreal made up of homeless men. The men regarded the choir as the most meaningful thing in their lives. Closer to home, my friend Kittie Verdolini is organizing a choir in Pittsburgh comprised of prison inmates and police officers, all led by the music director of one of Pittsburgh’s largest African American churches. You may know of examples in your towns where singing is used to raise well-being and a sense of community in otherwise challenged populations. On a social level, who can forget the uniting power that singing had for U.S. civil rights advocates in the 1960’s, who sang spirituals as they marched for social change in the streets? And the healing power of communal singing as a spiritual force was clearly evident as President Obama led the singing of those gathered after the shootings at Emmanuel Church in Charleston. We sing to heal ourselves, to heal each other, and to teach our children how to pull together in times of great trouble.

In Wales, Ireland, and Iceland, people sing in choruses, in pubs, in churches, as they work, at soccer matches, you name it. My Kenyan and Nigerian friends tell me in Africa, the notion of “I don’t sing” or “I can’t sing” is completely foreign. Everyone can and everyone does sing. Our children sing songs to themselves as they play, but once they become adults, many of them stop singing – or worse, they have been told they can’t sing. Why can’t singing regain its prominence in our culture, and be a factor in creating healthier, more socially connected, more understanding, and hopefully less violent communities?

Below is a plan to get people all over the Americas singing more. The plan would commence in the U.S with the assistance of organizations such as NATS, MENC, ACDA, NYSTA, AGO, NPM, VASTA, Opera America, and Chorus America, but through sister organizations in other countries we could share the model throughout the Western Hemisphere. Calling upon individual efforts by directors like you, student and professional solo vocal performers, church leaders, and popular singers in jazz, folk, gospel, and rock, I propose we restructure traditional concert models to include inviting those attending performances to sing with those performing. At concerts, flash mobs, World Voice Day events, as well as informal sing-a-longs at sporting events, community celebrations, and religious gatherings, consider including audience participation numbers as a planned portion of the performance.

As vocal music educators, we have a vested interest in fostering more singing in society. Our very livelihood depends on having engaged audiences and an influx of new singers to our studios, choirs, and classrooms. And it’s the right thing to do.

So how do we start?  Here are some suggestions to get you started, and you may have several ideas of your own. That’s wonderful. Share them with me at , as I will be developing a website and a set of resource materials to help others. You can also visit our Facebook group Singing for a New World.

America needs to sing more. Singing together elevates us to that bessre Welt we all want for ourselves, for those we love, and for those we teach. Who is better positioned to lead this effort than us?

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Start simple: have your choirs and the solo performers you teach program participatory songs at the ends of concerts. Invite the audience to sing along. Print the words in the program.

Begin community meetings you are involved in with a song – like the Rotary Clubs typically do.

Start a Beer Choir in your favorite pub

Promote vocal music in schools in your community

Take your choirs to retirement centers, hospitals, nursing homes, or veteran’s groups. Share the love of music with our most “experienced” listeners.

Take your choirs to public places flash mob style, and spontaneously start songs at the same time all over a campus or town.

When your choir is going to a restaurant together, ask the host or hostess if you can help out with any birthday singing, and get the whole restaurant to join in.

MORE LONG-TERM AND BROADER IDEAS:

Encourage sing-a-longs of popular songs of various genres at ballgames, other sporting events

Singing at community celebrations, like July 4 picnics

Leverage social media, webcasts to spread the word

Engage popular artists to do sing-a-longs at concerts – classical, country, folk, popular

Opera companies and theaters could have concerts which would include singing along on popular choruses, or use curtain calls to invite audience members to sing (“Cast Karaoke”)

___________________

{lastName  John Nix () is Associate Professor of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy at the University of Texas at San Antonio and the founding director of the UTSA Vocal Arts Laboratory.

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