choir

Stories of Healing and Reimagining: A Pause

September 8, 2021 by Shannon Marie Gravelle Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year. We are all starting (or are a few weeks into) a new school year, a new church season, community choir rehearsals, or new composition projects. Yet this isn’t where I thought we would be when I started this blog series in June. I fully expected to be looking at COVID in the rearview mirror.

Yet here we are. And you know as well as I do that we all wish we were in a different place. But we aren’t.

From my conversations, here is a summary of some common experiences:

Most ensembles are back in some form. Most are in person, although not all.
Some in-person ensembles are requiring vaccines. Some aren’t.
Most ensembles are requiring that their singers follow recommendations put forth by the aerosol study (masked, distanced, shortened rehearsal time).
Most ensembles and programs have much lower numbers than they are used to. And perhaps related, most programs have a lot less money.
Many programs are still solidifying what performances will look like. What will be required from the singers? From the audience? Or will the audience not even be allowed in? Most directors can’t make a decision until they are closer to the performance. It seems that most are hoping for the best, but planning for the worst.

It’s incredibly evident that our colleagues are fully invested in their communities. We all believe in our missions. Yet there are a lot of emotions about the past 18 months, and I’m not convinced we’ve really been processing them.

So this series continues. Instead of Stories of Newness: Healing and Reimagining, it will be shortened to Stories of Healing and Reimagining. I will continue to listen to and share the stories of our colleagues. And it’s my sincerest wish that you will find solidarity, inspiration, and warmth in these stories.

I wanted to pause for a moment before this series continues. And I invite you to pause, breathe. You are not alone in your exhaustion and you aren’t alone when you feel inspired by hearing your singers make music as a group. You and your choral communities are creating your own stories of healing and reimagining. Thank you.

Stories of Newness: Healing and Reimagining with Alan

August 11, 2021 by Shannon Marie Gravelle Leave a Comment

*Alan had just finished rehearsing one of his choirs on a piece of music they were going to be presenting at an upcoming concert when he received the email: School was closing. They were projected to be out until April.

“We’ll do [the concert] when we come back,” he thought. Within a week, though, it became clear the situation was becoming more serious. The school district gave them a week to create online classes. None of the students wanted to do a virtual choir. Alan said the students could only hear themselves, and they had joined to sing with others, not by themselves, in addition to other issues. Other than one virtual choir for graduation, they had music history units and worked with Sight-Reading Factory. Alan worked with a colleague on listening units, which included discussing personal preferences as well as analyzing music.

2020-21 was tough because Alan wasn’t sure if/when they would move to virtual instruction. The students wanted to sing, not do virtual choirs. He taught a piece the students sing every year and afterwards switched to solo music. 25% of students stayed virtual all year, with the other 75% coming to school in a variety of configurations depending on the COVID spread. There was no in-person concert in the fall, although they subscribed to StreamYard, and presented a live performance from their houses.

Alan’s philosophy was to find a “path of least resistance.” He focused on keeping it light and engaging while also being academic in nature. His district was active in providing materials they could use for online teaching, including a shared curriculum they could use. While many teachers were moved to support in-person elementary students, Alan wasn’t. At the end of Spring 2021, students sang in-person (with restrictions), and filmed a huge production that was shared with the community. It had a very positive response.

Alan was impressed with how resilient students were, especially since he knows students need community. Related, he’s been grateful for the focus on mental health. They’ve always talked about it at some level, but there has been a deeper dive. On the other hand, planning has been frustrating with so much uncertainty. Day-after-day, instruction has depended on public health. It often wasn’t improving. They were “on pause”: living but not really experiencing.

Alan was fortunate when COVID first hit– choir numbers stayed fairly stable. Even for this upcoming year, his retention numbers are strong. But the number of incoming 9th graders declined sharply. If numbers are low, fewer people attend concerts. If people don’t attend concerts or if there are no concerts, he has no budget. His administrators understand that he will need to build numbers again, but he only has a year to get his numbers back. Prior to COVID, he visited the middle schools and saw those students face-to-face. His students would sing with them, and 8th graders would visit his school. None of that can happen at the moment, although he’s hopeful that it will. He knows that districts often make decisions based on the community’s political leanings, and he suspects his district will try to stay open all year. He sees other challenges, though: he knows many students will need credit recovery, and their schedules might get filled with classes other than choir. He also wishes they had more counselors at his school. The highly-trained counselors do amazing work, but there simply aren’t enough of them to provide the academic and mental health support to large numbers of students.

As he looks forward, he recognizes he has control over his class environment. He prioritizes an open and welcoming space. This past year, he spoke to students about Asian-American violence. Alan is an Asican-American, and there were times he was worried about his safety. His Asian-American colleagues felt the same. He shared a real part of his humanity with students, and the conversation he had with them was very real.

Questions still remain about this upcoming year: What will public health be like? What type of questions will the choral profession be addressing? Alan hopes he is able to interact with other choral colleagues and ask hard questions that affect our discipline. There are things in his mind that need to be discussed.

Either way, Alan said, he will continue to find a way to make things work.

*Name has been changed to respect the privacy and processing of the sharer.

Stories of Newness: Healing and Reimagining with Stephanie Gravelle

July 14, 2021 by Shannon Marie Gravelle Leave a Comment

This was such a fun conversation with me. Stephanie is a fantastic musician and passionate music educator. She’s also my sister-in-law, and I love learning from her. I wasn’t able to include everything from our conversation. Stephanie is an incredibly engaging and thoughtful programmer, and I highly recommend just reaching out to her and asking her what she has planned. It’s inspiring.

Stephanie Gravelle, Middle and High School Music Teacher at The International School of Beijing, was on break when her school moved to virtual instruction due to COVID-19. They first used an asynchronous model, which was helpful, especially as teachers navigated some unique obstacles (ex: In China, Google and all of its products are blocked). Also, many teachers and students had been vacationing and didn’t have laptops, instruments, or other materials. Stephanie did one (optional) virtual choir, but was on the fence about the value. It was good for the community– one person commented “it’s so good to hear kids singing again.” But students were living with an unknown number of people. Imagine, Stephanie said, being a 12-year-old and going through a voice change… of course you wouldn’t want to practice in your own house.

When they returned mid-September, many students were in-person, but many teachers weren’t back; in addition to visa issues, teachers were trying to navigate their return in a global pandemic. There were teacher assistants for teachers who were away. For students at home, it wasn’t choral singing. Eventually students who were virtual went to an online school, without a music option.

In January 2021, high school students worked on solo recording projects: chose a song, analyzed text, prepared music, while Stephanie gave periodic lessons to students. She kept middle school students engaged with vocal exercises, stretches, sight-reading, canons, etc. She sang with students, and had to trust they were participating. She made tracks for rehearsals. Students completed practice journals– even if they didn’t practice. She wanted them to think about the music. She offered a virtual choir, but many students opted out. In class, students participated in listening discussions. Students who never said a word in class had great discussions through chat. In-person, she hasn’t figured out a way to replicate that. Still, it was inspiring to see students fully engaged.

Parents weren’t allowed on campus, so the performing arts department held a festival in April and invited the whole PK-high school. For three days, every hour, there was a concert, drama performance, or other performance art event, including their choir concert. Elementary kids were able to watch high school students. It was great for the school community.

After the performing arts festival, Stephanie wasn’t sure students missed evening concerts. She reflected: Do we need after school concerts? Can these concerts interact with the community in a different way? During COVID, there were no concerts or rehearsals on weekends or late nights. She went home and spent more time with family. And that was nice. Is there a way to hold this up as standard, instead of normalizing late nights and long rehearsals? She thought about Brené Brown– “It shouldn’t be normal.” How can she, and how can our profession, pursue doing things during the day? And “How can we do things that give us more time for family, friends, or even ourselves?”

This past year, she also did an audit on herself. She created a spreadsheet and listed the repertoire she gave students– everything they listened to and all the materials she used. The spreadsheet included time period, religious background, gender perspective, etc. She wanted to see what she used and then ask “do I want to change anything? If so, how?” She set up weekly themes where she highlighted different genres of music and a variety of performers. This work will continue as she asks “How am I amplifying various voices, and how can I diversify that amplification?” In addition to finding culture bearers of musics, she plans to teach these musics like they might be taught in their origin environment.

Each international school has a different instructional set-up, but there are some shared silver linings. For example, students recorded their solos for a virtual solo and ensemble. Participation levels increased dramatically due to the online format. With so many things being held virtually, Stephanie was able to attend more professional development, such as a Village Harmony course and yes, she went to the national ACDA conference for the first time.

As far as the fall, repertoire is selected and goals are set. She knows things can change quickly, but it makes her feel better to be prepared. She also recognizes that students are navigating a lot– not just their own changes, but also the stresses that many of their parents have. Some students are struggling with how to have a discussion or work collaboratively. Technique is very important, but right now they need to come into a room that makes them feel happy, safe, and wanted. Her focus will be what it always is: find the heart of her singers and have their hearts connected. This has always been where they get the best sound, and it’s even more true now.

CJ Reply: Critical Pedagogy and the Choir

March 1, 2021 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The February issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “Critical Pedagogy and the Choir” by Simon Hill. You can read it in its entirety online at acda.org/choraljournal. Following is a portion from the introduction.

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What is critical pedagogy?

Since the release of Paulo Freire’s seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed, a singular definition and application of critical pedagogy has been elusive. Broadly speaking, critical pedagogy may be summed up in Freire’s original term conscientização, which roughly translates as conscientization. Conscientization refers to the process by which the unjust workings of a society are realized by the oppressed. The oppressed are then able to reclaim their right to speak as liberated persons, thereby transforming both themselves as individuals and the societies in which they live.1

Freire’s pedagogy stems from his work in educating the illiterate peasant population of Brazil in the mid twentieth century. However, when Freire speaks of the oppressed and the oppressor, he is not just speaking to Brazilians of the time. Freire’s critical pedagogy may be applied in any context and across disciplines.

As choral conductors and educators, where in our field can we fi nd the oppressed and oppressors? How can we transform our practices? How can we facilitate the process of conscientization among our singers? Using strong words such as oppressed and oppressor to describe the choral field might seem jarring, but by using these terms, we are not defining choral music as an innately unjust or oppressive art form. Instead, we are acknowledging the hierarchical nature of our field.

Since the relationship between conductor and choir naturally lends itself to a system of hierarchy (oppressor and oppressed), we can ask how critical pedagogy can guide us to a more liberated system. In this new mode, conductor and ensemble can work together dialogically to transform themselves and the world in which they live.

Critical pedagogy does not begin with predetermined answers; it begins with a problem. Through problem-posing, “People develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they fi nd themselves; they come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation.”2

Critical pedagogy for choir could invite dialogue around a problem which exists in the world outside of the rehearsal space. It could also present a problem found within the confines of the choral classroom. It is essential that the unveiling of the world comes from within—the choristers—rather than from the conductor telling them what the world is and how they exist within it. Critical pedagogy is a collective process of both discovering and engaging with the world.

Notes

Donaldo Macedo, introduction to Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 50th Anniversary Edition, by Paulo Freire (New York: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018): 16.
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 50th Anniversary Edition, trans. Myra Bergman Ramos (New York: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018): 83.

The Choir I Hear

May 25, 2020 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The following is a poem submitted by Terry York. Terry is Professor of Christian Ministry and Church Music and George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University.

The Choir I Hear

The choir I hear
Is composed of all the singers
I have conducted,
All the singers with whom I have sung,
All the singers I have ever heard.

The anthem they sing
Is composed of all the magical moments
I have conducted,
All the magical moments I have sung,
All the magical moments I have ever heard.

And they sing, giving themselves to the music
As lovers give themselves to each other.
They create another world
And live there together
From downbeat to cut-off through the shimmering trailing silence
That reverberates as it settles in
The third ear;
A decrescendo that pierces into the heart.
There, it pulses, still.

This is the choir I hear
When there are no choirs.

Terry W. York

Taking Our Rehearsal Temperature

April 30, 2018 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The May 2015 issue of Choral Journal contains an article from Hilary Apfelstadt titled “Taking Our Rehearsal Temperature.” Choral conductors and music educators always seem to be looking for more articles on rehearsal. In this article, the author provides a rubric for learning music with notation, although these tips can apply generally to any type of choral learning experience. An excerpt of the article follows. You can read the rest in the Rehearsal Break column of the May 2015 issue of Choral Journal here! (Click “Search Archives” and choose May 2015)

Note: this article originally appeared in the Canadian Music Educator, issue 55 (1), 2013.

Effective rehearsals are organized around a “whole to part to whole” structure. Does your rehearsal follow this model?

The first “whole” comprises an overview of the music. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. For example, one might play a recording of the music to introduce the piece or, if the ensemble’s skill level allows, have the group sight-read the piece on a neutral syllable or with the words. One of my university teachers always had us sing new short pieces on “loo” while he played the parts on the piano in order that we would have a sense of the music’s shape and structure.

While one could quibble about the fact that we were not really sight-reading but rather following along with the piano, it was a strategy that always resulted in our having a sense of the whole piece. (Later I came to regard this approach as “spoon feeding” because it did not make us independent of the piano or make us accountable for our own rhythm and pitch but understood that it was one approach to getting a sense of an entire short piece.)

The “part” comprises the detailed work that leads from accuracy (getting the rhythm and pitch correct, along with other musical details) to artistry (conveying the expressive intent of the music). Here we use teaching strategies developed according to our analysis of the music. For example, if the composition has repeated dotted rhythms, we might present those initially in the warmups and then help the singers find them in the music as they listen or as they scan it visually.

If the music is based on a minor scale, we might sing that scale prior to the detailed rehearsal to get the tonality established and give singers a chance to tune their ears and voices to that minor mode. The final “whole” is putting back together all of the parts into a cohesive unit that is artistic and expressive. It might take one rehearsal or many rehearsals to accomplish this, but each rehearsal should offer some sense of whole. Perhaps it is only the A section that is really accurate by the end of the allotted time, but before leaving that piece to go to something else, we can have the singers perform it as best they can to experience a sense of musical closure for the moment.

In planning for a rehearsal in this whole-part-whole paradigm, the teacher needs to do several things: analyze the music, discern its teachable elements, develop appropriate teaching strategies, implement them, and finally, evaluate them.

Read the rest of this article in the May 2015 issue of Choral Journal here! (Click “Search Archives” and choose May 2015)
Note: you must be an ACDA member to read the Choral Journal. If you are not already a member of ACDA, join today! Associate members can join for only $45 a year and receive access to the Choral Journal online and other ACDA benefits.