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

“Future of Intelligence” Consortium for SATB and SSAA choirs

by Leave a Comment

Commission a new work for SATB or SSAA choir at a fraction of the price of a standard commission!  Be a part of a commissioning consortium for the following piece— What does AI have to say about the dangers it may pose to humanity?  I thought I would ask.  “The Future of Intelligence” will set […]

Are you looking to participate in an exclusive experience for your SSAA choir?

by Leave a Comment

Greetings to all SSAA choirs and conductors, Are you on the lookout for an extraordinary piece that will elevate your choir’s repertoire and leave an indelible mark on your audience? As a composer deeply passionate about choral music, I’ve always found the SSAA formation to be a fascinating canvas for musical exploration. It’s a formation […]

St. Charles Singers to Share Stage With 6 High School Choirs February 23-24

by Leave a Comment

Inaugural ‘Choral Connections’ concerts slated for Baker Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Charles, Illinois Student ensembles coming from Carol Stream, Geneva, Maple Park, St. Charles, Sycamore, and Woodstock ST. CHARLES, Illinois, February 1, 2024 — The St. Charles Singers will launch a new community outreach initiative with a pair of “Choral Connections” concerts February […]

A Skills-First Approach to the All-State Choir Selection Process

by Leave a Comment

The February 2024 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “A Skills-First Approach to the All-State Choir Selection Process” by Marshaun R. Hymon. Following is a portion from the article. _________________ Is music literacy the ability to read pitches and rhythms on five lines and four spaces? I think it’s much more broad than […]

Should We Stop Assessing Sight Reading at All State Choir? With Drs. Marshaun Hymon and Chantae Pittman

by Leave a Comment

This podcast has become the place to go for Music Literacy pedagogical training tools for teachers over the last five years. As a result, I have never received as much correspondence about content NOT created by me, than Dr. Marshaun Hymon’s February 2024 Choral Journal Article called “A Skills First Approach to the All-State Choir […]

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