Choral Culture

“The best way out of a difficulty is through it.” Will Rogers

What do you do, when YOU are falling apart, or someone you love is, during this most busy of times for our profession? Do you take extra vitamins or sip tea or soup? Catch a nap or sleep or few extra minutes in the morning if you are able? Do you try to get around your challenges or do you embrace them, making adjustments as you go? Do you plow through, or go around? How do you handle adversity when you don’t have time for adversity?

December is a tough month for choral directors. Whether we serve as church choir director, teach in an academic setting or conduct a community group, we are busy. There are extra services, extra rehearsals and concerts we’ve been planning for months. Sometimes, we have extra challenges we must get through in order to fulfill the obligations of our positions. We rehearse when we are sick, or our own children are, knowing we can collapse when the choral marathon is over. The music of the season helps us persevere because we love it. There are times when it’s rough, not of our own making, and still we must get through.

Ginny* has back issues. She pulled something when she was playing tennis a few years ago and has had problems ever since. Her physician referred her to a physical therapist and that helped. She was given a series of exercises and stretches she needs to do regularly (at least five times a week) or her back acts up. And during December, with her crazy schedule between her church job and community chorus, her back acts up.

Ginny tells me she realized last year, she MUST take the time to do her exercises and stretches EVERY DAY. A few days before she conducted her community chorus’s holiday concert, she had one of the worse back spasms of her life. She had to take a muscle relaxant; her husband needed to drive her to several rehearsals and a concert and she had to be literally led on stage before she finally knew what she had to do. The ten minutes it takes every morning to do the stretches and exercises is worth it because her back is fine and she can count on being okay. Occasionally, she’ll have a back twinge or two but nothing like that concert she barely remembers because of the pain. Taking time to do what she needs to is pushing through her difficulty.

Today is the first Thursday in December. Since mid-November, every store—whether grocery, hardware or department—I go into has live poinsettias somewhere. I know they are there because, as soon as I walk in the door, my nose starts running. The longer I stay in the store, the more my nose runs and irritates my throat. And if I stay too long, my asthma flares up. I have taken to mapping out the most basic of shopping trips to avoid the poinsettias groves in the aisles.

I developed this allergy from the years and years and years I was director of choirs at several middle-sized churches. During my last position, I discovered my slight head cold, irritated throat and occasional bouts of asthma every December were due to an “unusual” allergy to poinsettias. It’s not so unusual when you realize I was exposed to about 80-plus poinsettias in choir lofts every year for more years than I am willing to admit to here.

Every December, the secretary at the church would call me the day the poinsettias were delivered so I could take preventive measures before I got to work. The clergy would physically clear a path for me to my seat in the choir loft. I returned the favor during Easter because she had the same problem with Easter lilies.

Nowadays I do what I can to avoid poinsettias or go medicated if I cannot, such as the DIY Messiahs I conducted for years. I push through and make it to the other side, a little worse for wear but okay for the most part. I’m not always as busy in December as in years past but if I have a gig, singing or conducting, I make strategies to push through my poinsettia difficulty.

For the rest of December, Choral Ethics will re-run several of its most requested Blogs. See you next year!

*Name Withheld

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.” Henry David Thoreau

I always try to be grateful. In this season of Thanksgiving, I am more grateful than usual. Perhaps our world is in upheaval but there is one thing I know for sure; there is plenty more Good than there is evil in the world. And for that Good, I am grateful.

ChoralNet is pretty great. I am lucky to have been a ChoralNet User since 1995 (24 years, does that even make sense?). The people I’ve met and the knowledge I’ve had access to have helped me in my career in so many ways. I’ve been a ChoralNet Moderator since 2011 and have been blessed to work with some of the best human beings it has been my privilege to know.  I am grateful for my fellow Moderators and Scott and Sundra too!

We choral folk are beginning our yearly marathon of madness, from rehearsals and concerts and worship services to the family events we must attend. I am grateful for the busyness, for the opportunity to share our Art and for the knowledge what we do matters.

Singing in a choir is something that draws people together and when the world is going to heck, it is healing. I am grateful for the opportunity to occasionally sing in a chorus myself. It makes me feel great to let someone else take over the “steering wheel” too. I’ll be part of a Roosevelt University Alumni Chorus, performing my absolute FAVORITE large choral work in May, so I am grateful to Dr. Cheryl Frazes Hill for offering me the opportunity.

I am grateful for the music; the music I know and the music I don’t yet know. It was a privilege to have wonderful teachers, both male and female, guide me and for those pedagogues, Dr. R., Dr. L., Dr. H. and my darling Dr. G., I am grateful.

I work with a group of wonderful singers in my own chamber choir. Their musicianship and their constant growth humble and amaze me. Along with my wonderful accompanist, Ben, (who also sings bari-tenor or is it tenor-tone?) I am grateful for Kari, Marcella, Katie, Cindy, Althea, Emile and Ben too. I don’t know what I did to deserve them but I am happy they are in my life.

I am grateful for having enough to eat, a good and warm place to sleep and people I love to share it with me. Of course, I am grateful for my family. My great husband, Chuck, and our three sons Russell, Gregory and Benjamin are the light of my life. Most days, our life together isn’t perfect, but some days, it’s practically perfect….we have a great life! I am honored and grateful for having had such wonderful parents who allowed me to dream and supported me in subtle ways. My Dad still does, coming to almost every concert I conduct and Baby Bro is my rock.

I live in a wonderful, diverse community with a great sense of what it means to be a community. I am blessed to be able to work with many, many wonderful fellow musicians and visual artists and business people sharing a vision for our community; for all of them (too numerous to name), I am grateful.

I have wonderful friends, some have been part of my life for a long time and some have been part of my life for a short time. Robin, my oldest friend, is the only person I’ll name here but the others know who they are. And I hope they know what they truly mean to me. I am grateful for the fun times and serious times and silly times we’ve shared too!

I am a very healthy person, outside of allergies, and am rarely sick.  So, I am grateful for my good health and the relatively good health of those I love. Son Russell’s autism doesn’t count as illness; his ability to overcome some of his challenges and remain a sweet guy is something for which I am grateful.

There are many, many more people and things I am grateful for…including YOU!

Happy Thanksgiving, ChoralNet!

“…A person can develop ‘la grippe.’” From Adelaide’s Lament

It is mid-November in the Midwest and you know what that means. A few leaves still cling to branches after their brethren have made a truly lovely, colorful exit. Birds are gathering on trees and powerlines to migrate en masse as soon as it turns cold enough. The geese…….well, those ornery geese will stick around until they feel like leaving…..and it might not be for a while.  We’ve had several lovely Indian Summer type days of late, but as a true Midwesterner, I don’t let balmy days lull me into a false sense of security. The North Wind has not begun to blow in earnest; the character building weather is a month or so off here in Chicago but we know what is coming. There is a distinct nip in the air which leads me to believe the real deal of winter isn’t far off.

I got out my bedroom humidifier out over the weekend and cleaned and cranked it up. Instead of waiting until I woke to a sore throat for more than four days in a row, I decided to be proactive this year and got it going sooner rather than later.  With forced air heat, dryness can be difficult for singers and I’ve depended on a bedroom humidifier for years. It will be of one of the things I depend on to keep healthy over the next few months of the Choral Busy Season and the winter weather that follows.

I set myself up to be healthy during the fall and winter because, like you, I don’t have time to be sick. Getting into the habits of washing my hands all the time (and being especially diligent during cold and flu season), sleeping with a bedroom humidifier once the heating system is on, drinking plenty of water or low or non-caffeinated fluids and getting as much sleep as possible has held me in good stead. I am rarely sick anymore. I am not a physician; I just live with one and don’t really feel comfortable dispensing medical advice accept for one bit: WASH YOUR HANDS!

I was always an allergy, cough and cold gal. Viruses found me no matter what and they always seemed to hit when I was busiest. It was after a particular nasty bout of upper respiratory purgatory I came to the conclusion; there had to be a better way. Since my spouse is an Otolaryngologist (and he was tired of hearing me cough and complain, especially the complaining part), I asked him what I could do to prevent this happening again. I asked again last night and he gave the same advice: Wash Your Hands!

Washing your hands and avoiding sick people (if possible) is good advice for anyone in the teaching profession. Whether we teach in an actual academic setting or not, we Choral Folk are teachers; teachers depend on their voices. And teachers get exposed to whatever bug is making the rounds. Since many of us are also singers (or need to be able to demonstrate), we have to be doubly conscientious about our vocal health. Hand washing is an easy way to be proactive.

Sounds simple, right? Yet most of us don’t wash our hands often enough when we are clearly being exposed to whatever bug is going through town. Hand sanitizers are a good substitute if you can’t get to soap and water right away. I always tried to wash my hands before my children’s choir’s rehearsal but rarely after, simply because I wanted to get back on the road before rush hour. If I had made time to either wash my hands on the way out or had used a hand sanitizer in my car before leaving the parking lot, I probably would have had avoided a whole bunch of coughing, sneezing and misery.

What do you do to keep yourself healthy as we approach the Choral Busy Season? In your part of the world, what are the challenges you face as a choral musician because of your climate and how do you handle them?

“I look back on my life like a good day’s work, it was done and I am satisfied with it.” Grandma Moses

Jethro* works hard. He is in a three year graduate program, has a church job as well and is spread thin most of the time. This is his second year in the program and he has yet to take time off, even during semester breaks. He has time blocked out each day for practice, studying, writing, teaching and choosing music for his church choirs but has no down time.

His former girlfriend graduated last year (also a musician) and moved on after graduation so his social life is non-existent. Any concert or lecture or church service Jethro attends is either for his grad program or his church job. He doesn’t eat properly, doesn’t get enough sleep and his apartment is a pig’s sty (his words). He falls into bed each night and is cranky. Jethro contacted me, essentially, wanting my “permission” to take time off from practicing and preparation. I’m sure he was surprised when I DIDN’T give it. But I DID ask him some questions about his life.

I wanted to know, since he scheduled time for everything else, why he didn’t schedule time for maintaining his apartment, going to the grocery store and for resting. He didn’t know what to say because he never thought about it. He told me he picks up his living room when he needs to find something for school or work and doesn’t do laundry regularly. He has been eating fast food and NOT going to the grocery store for the last six months. And he only goes to bed when he can’t stay awake any longer, sometimes falling asleep on the couch while studying. I told him he should think about getting his house in order—literally—before he thinks about “officially” taking time off.

Doing busy work having nothing to do with music can refresh us and while it MIGHT seem like a waste of time, it really isn’t on two counts. First, our living space is cleaned up! And second, if our living space is NOT chaotic, it’s easier to work and rest. I asked Jethro if he could block out an hour each day for five days in a row to clean. Yes, I told him, it will take time away from studying but it will be worth it in the long run.

Jethro and I began our correspondence in August, just as his semester was beginning and his choir began for the fall. He agreed he would try to do as I suggested when the semester settled down. And he did. He contacted me late last month, the week after he took my advice and says he feels better.

One of the things he shared with me was, as he straightened and cleaned; his mind became relaxed and wandered freely to his work. He set a pad of paper and a pencil on a table and wrote things down as he thought of them, as he cleaned. He set the timer on his phone to 60 minutes each day and then didn’t think about it until it went off. He actually felt refreshed after. And his apartment is better—still a bit messy–but better. On the sixth day, he went to the grocery store and filled his panty and frig with food he liked and could make quickly.

He’s decided to block out an hour a day, every day, to maintain what he began. While Jethro may not have time right now to “officially” take time off, he thinks the time he is using for straightening up and cooking is the mental break he needs. He thinks he might go home for a few days during winter break, after his church obligations are finished. He won’t feel guilty about it either, because he knows it will refresh him. And if he’s refreshed, he’s better able to do what he does.

During the last two Thursdays of November, please enjoy two often requested Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics Blogs!

*Name withheld