ChoralNet

The professional networking site for the global online choral community.

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” Arthur Conan Doyle

Believe it or not, I get many emails about loyalty. Loyalty to a chorus or church choir or alumni group and perhaps another type performing group of some sort. I get questions such as: if my university has disbanded an ensemble I was a part of and I don’t see why they disbanded it, should I still donate to the university? Or: the new choir director at my church often schedules anthems not to my taste, should I still sing every Sunday, even if I don’t like what we’re singing that morning?

In addition to those types of questions of loyalty, several of my recent correspondents are board members or audience members of community or professional choruses. All want to know a variation of: if I don’t like the music on a particular concert, do I still have to attend?

The answer to all these queries is simple: it depends. If your idea of loyalty is punishing someone when they do something you don’t agree with by withholding money or attendance, then sure, do what you want with your money and attendance. But you’re not being loyal. If you see a chorus or church choir or other performing arts organization as someone providing you a SERVICE and you are unhappy, then don’t attend, don’t donate, and don’t support them in other ways. But I feel music is different from hiring a contractor or ordering take-out.

In our household, I am usually the one who organizes home repairs with the plumber or hires the lawn service or gets estimates. If I need a plumber, I hire someone I’ve had a pleasant experience with, not the company who punched a hole in my ceiling for no good reason. If I need the lawn mowed, I contract with someone who has done a good job for me and continues to do a good job for me. There have been a few times when my current Lawn Guy has NOT done a good job and he usually explains WHY. The backyard was too muddy and his mower kept getting stuck in the goo or he didn’t want to mow over 100s of Cicadas. The reason he is my Current Lawn Guy is for exactly this reason, he explains why.

If you are upset your University’s Glee Club, or Show Choir or Swedish Chorus has been disbanded, ASK WHY. Perhaps there isn’t interest from current students or not enough funds to pay the director. If you want to be loyal, see what you can do to prevent the disbanding, perhaps you and other Alumni could start a fund. Or you can accept their explanation. No one expects you to continue to donate if you don’t like their explanation unless YOU WANT TO.

Church choirs are notorious for using attendance and participation as some sort of punishment for anthem choices. If you think you shouldn’t sing if you don’t like the anthems, then don’t sing but TELL the director why you won’t be singing. Perhaps there is a reason for the choices, such as getting younger singers involved or it’s a request from clergy, for those Sundays and if you knew, you would want to sing. During Lent, I had a tenor in one of my former church gigs moan about the “Dirge of the Week” because he thought the music wasn’t “peppy enough.” He threatened not to sing unless the music was happier. It was LENT and the music wasn’t peppy because it was LENT. As we began rehearsing for Palm Sunday and Easter, he was much more at ease, but I’ll never forget having to EXPLAIN to him why we didn’t sing more upbeat anthems during LENT.

If you are a board member of a chorus and you’ve attended board meetings, you should know why certain repertoire is chosen for each concert. If a concert is not to your taste, don’t attend, but purchase tickets for the concert, that would be loyal. If the music for every concert is no longer to your taste, then perhaps it’s time to reevaluate your relationship with the chorus. And if other board members feel as you do, perhaps it’s time to reevaluate your music director.

As an audience member, if you don’t like the repertoire, don’t go to the concert! A concert of “not Beethoven or Mozart” or “All New Music” might appeal to others and if that’s not you, it’s perfectly fine. In this case, the chorus provides a service, and no one suggests you need to attend a concert if you don’t like the music to be performed. It’s the chorus’s responsibility to choose music to get “behinds in seats” and if they don’t, it’s on them. However, they might be surprised, good or bad, what their repertoire selections bring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Search Results for: choir

Choral Caffeine: Church Music

by Leave a Comment

Part of the normal musical week for some choral conductors is service to a local church or synagogue.  I suppose it stands to reason, given that a large portion of the history of choral music is tied in one form or another to the church.  Of course, trying to understand the term “church music” is […]

Choral Caffeine: A Little Vocal Care

by Leave a Comment

It’s already hit me, and I suspect you’ve faced it too.  You know what I’m talking about . . . that change-in-the-weather, everyone-in-the-choir-is sick, exposed-to-all-their-germs upper respiratory infection that we all seem to get this time of year.  It’s not a full-blown cold or flu, just a nagging sniffling, coughing, low-grade fever affair that takes […]

Stick Time: Clarity of Line

by Leave a Comment

Johann Sebastian Bach.  I confess, dispite my adoration of his art, he’s still one of my musical tormentors.  The reason is simple: I don’t think I’ll ever grasp all he poured into his monolithic compositions (which explains why some conductors devote themselves almost exclusively to his music).  I won’t stop trying, though.   Today, let’s […]

Contacting the Publishers Directly about YouTube

by Leave a Comment

I was pleased to find another choral musician publicizing information about YouTube performances of choral music.   Jack Senzig, director of the Gifford Children’s Choir of Racine, WI, has been a choral director for 20+ years and he's trying to provide a useful service for my professional colleagues.  He has created a site called the […]

Featured Community: South Dakota ACDA

by Leave a Comment

Over the next few months, ACDA will be encouraging local chapters to move their communications operations to ChoralNet. South Dakota's state ACDA chapter has been blazing a trail in this regard, recruiting 72 ChoralNet members to their community and posting information about conferences, honor choirs, leadership positions, and so on. They've made great use of […]

Play List for Great Sacred Music – October 2, 2011

by Leave a Comment

Great Sacred Music airs from 8-11 a.m. eastern every Sunday on 89.7 fm in central North Carolina and online at http://theclassicalstation.org The show is hosted by Rob Kennedy.   08:00:20 Gregorian chant: Cantique, Benedictus I Monks of Saint-Benoit Abbey, Andre Saint-Cyr 08:06:14 Jan Lohelius Oehlschlagel: Benedictus and Hosana ~ Missa pastoralis Cantores Pragenses; Musica di […]

© 2024 American Choral Directors Association. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy