Congestion on the Choral Highway

Late February / early March is a very popular time for choral concerts. Why is this? My top guess is that this is when musicians and audiences have regathered their forces after the Christmas Choral Season for the next round. Unfortunately, it makes for weekends that are as compacted as those in December. This year, we also have the Song of Peace project adding events to the schedule. Here is the Bay Area, there are all too many wonderful selections to pick from over the next two weekends. I dont know if I will be able to attend any outside of those which I am engaged to perform in.

Feb 29 - March 3:
American Bach Soloists
California Bach Society
Volti
Sacred & Profane
Schola Cantorum San Francisco
Sonoma Valley Chorale (SF Performance)

March 7 - March 9:
Cantare Chorale
Chora Nova
Clerestory
SF Bach Choir
St. Mark's Episcopal Church of Berkeley Chancel Choir & Temple Sinai Choir

If it weren't for the Song of Peace initiative, I would shake my head and say "People! You can't all sing at the same time and each expect to get a good audience!" Hopefully the initiative will be driving more audience members to choral events this spring. Its for a great reason.

On a side note- I see that some groups spread their concerts over multiple weekends. My guess is that this does help. I speak for myself, but I usually only have the energy to go to one concert a weekend. If I'm already engaged on Friday, I still wont make it to your Saturday or Sunday show- but I may well be able to make the one that you are giving next weekend. This is understandably harder on the performing group, especially if artists travel from out of town to do the gig.

On the bright side, perhaps its a sign of general good health in the choral world if so many fabulous groups are all able to perform at the same time. We are lucky in the Bay Area to have such a vibrant choral community. I wish many broken legs to all the singers out there.

Song of Peace: March 2008

Next month, the 5th anniversary of the latest US-led war in Iraq, choruses and choirs from around the globe will come together singing songs of peace. Rather than organize one mega-concert, choirs are showcasing songs of peace in their respective home-town concerts, raising awareness of the need for peace in these troubled times. Not only is this message stated in the lyrics of the music sung, but the music itself, should be a balm for peace.

This effort is being launched and documented by the creators of the Song of Peace website. This page lists participating choirs and concerts. There look to be somewhere between 50-60 documented performances in the works. The local Bay Area effort is documented in this Song of Peace blog. Would the contributor be willing to give an inside report on his or her group's preparation for their concert?

The mix of classical music and social/political/charitable issues is never guaranteed to be synergistic. In part, this is due to the perception that classical music lives in this refined bubble that has little to do with the rough and dirty workings of the real world. We go to classical music concerts to be transported away from all the bother and annoyance of our mundane lives- to dress in our opera frocks and experience refinement. ...or on a more serious note, to lift ourselves up and out of the bleakness and tragedy that fills the world, and attacks us from all angles. As I said... this is the perception. I think that this perception will only accelerate the demise of the relevance of classical music today. Pop musicians have been championing geopolitical/social causes for years, and with great success.

I believe that choral music lends itself incredibly well to furthering the cause of peace. I hope to make it to one of the local concerts.

Jorge Liderman

On Sunday February 3, UC Berkeley Professor of Music and composer Jorge Liderman was hit by a train at the El Cerrito Plaza bart station (north of Berkeley) and was killed. Joshua Kosman (SF Chronicle) reports on the tragedy here.

I had been fortunate enough when I was a member of the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus to perform two of his large-scale choral works. Sephardisms II, an a cappella setting of Sephardic folk songs, was very rewarding to sing. In 2002, I was part of the world premiere of Song of Songs, a symphonic cantata for chamber orchestra, soprano, tenor, and womens' chorus. The work was beautiful. In both cases, we got to work directly with Professor Liderman. He clearly understood the voice and loved writing for it. I know that his music will survive him and will continue to touch others.

Mercury Soul & self-expression at classical music events

Back in October, I mused on the audience member's experience at music events, comparing traditional format classical concerts with pop music concerts / club-nights.

(link)

Tonight, at Club Mezzanine in San Francisco, three intrepid artists are putting together a hybrid classical music / electronica / multi media event called Mercury Soul. The show features 20th/21st century chamber music of Ligeti, Webern, Nancarrow, Bates and others, performed by members of the SF Chamber Orchestra conducted by Benjamin Schwartz, interspersed with electronica DJ'ed by composer Mason Bates (aka DJ Masonic). Stage designer Anne Patterson completes the experience with stunning visuals. While classical music is the cornerstone of the mix, the format will be 100% club. Attendees can do whatever they want while the music is going; stand, dance, talk, drink, flirt, play pool, leave, come back...

I wont expound on the impact of the event, as this has been done quite well in this week's edition of San Francisco Classical Voice.

Wanted: Experienced vocalist with good typing skills

One of my choral groups is looking for ways to streamline the budget. We choristers are paid for our services; the organization certainly doesn’t want to give us a pay cut. But, the organization is also spread so thin taking care of the day to day stuff required to keep the engine running (coordinating concert logistics, promotion, personnel management) that they do not have enough time to devote to long term development (i.e. grant-writing and fund raising). It was proposed that the choristers take on more of the day to day business in order to give the business-folk more time and energy to secure the groups’ future.

This proposal wasn’t outlandish for the group. Over half of the artists have been members for more than one season- many for 3, 4, 5… even 11. Their loyalty and commitment goes beyond the paycheck received. The average singer in this group is also an accomplished over-achiever who excels in subjects outside of music, and have many other skills to bring to the table. I am sure that people are going to step up.

But, all professional choral groups are hurting. I think that the group described above is atypical in that it is both professional, yet commands an amateur’s loyalty from its employees. By amateur, I mean “involved through love”, not “involved, though lacking in the skills dictating remuneration”. Also, this group is established enough that each artist can be relatively secure in their future employment.

This model cannot work for groups that

• Hire unionized artists
• Make no guarantees about future employment for artists
• Really pay far too little to demand anything else from their employees
• In general, work in the “pick-up” format- that is, the group really doesn’t exist outside of the concentrated time period surrounding performances

In short, the organization must first succeed in earning the loyalty of their singers before stepping up their demands, and only organizations with security can really earn this. It’s a case of bad Catch-22 for nascent groups.

Having said that, let's consider volunteer choral societies. Not only are budgets "streamlined" by having a largely volunteer labor corps, but singers often contribute more to the group than their voices. Many of these societies charge their singers a quarterly fee, which makes for a big chunk of the operating budget. These volunteers, these "amateurs" in both senses of the word, gladly pay for the privilege of creating beautiful music and performing in high-profile venues for high-visibility events. However, there are limits to bringing this model over to the professional singing world. First off, the reverse-flow of income is completely out of the question (although some professional non-profit choruses can ask their employees to return part of their fee as a tax deductible donation). But, why is it that the volunteer society member is willing to give not only their money and non-musical efforts to the group as well as their time and musical talents? Why is this paradigm completely moot in struggling professional groups?

Another professional-yet-developing group that I am in is trying to put together a volunteer guild, following the model of established groups like American Bach Soloists (link to volunteer page). Such volunteers can run concerts, get word out by pounding the pavement and putting together mailers, give room & board to artists traveling in from out of town, etc. The guild members are rewarded not only with warm and fuzzy appreciation, but can be given complimentary season subscriptions and other material regalia.

Going back to the first proposed model for streamlining choral organizations; is this a necessary survival step in today’s zero-margin cut-throat corporate world? When does this model work? What are other alternatives? What have been your experiences with finding warm bodies to do the grunt work necessary to keep an organization running?

In C Major: A wonderful on-line calendar

"Dave in C Major" runs a beautiful on-line web calendar (In C Major) for fine arts music in California, Oregon and Washington State. I really like that he creates a category for family-oriented music. I hope to learn more about his amazing operation. Meanwhile, other major arts calendars should be humbled at how thorough, informative, clear and beautiful a job Dave has done.

Richard Sparks on programming

Richard Sparks, a well-regarded, internationally reknowned Seattle-based choral conductor, is the man to listen to about both the artistry and business of choirs. He currently is Artistic Director and Conductor of Pro Coro Canada in Edmonton, and last year, directed the debut concert of the Bay Area's own Chorlalis, to much acclaim. He is the author of the blog, Richard Sparks - Music, Conducting, Choirs, and recently made some cogent observations about choral programming. With his permission, I re-post his entry below

January 12, 2008: Programming II

So, last time I talked about the importance of thinking of repertoire in programming from the standpoint of the needs of the chorus and individual singers to maximize their growth.

But what about the needs of the audience? Or of the institution that supports you if you’re not an independent choir (or your board, if it is)?

You can’t forget about those needs (or at least you shouldn’t if you want to keep your job!), but the challenge is to balance those with what the choir needs to do.

Again, your own situation will determine much of this. A church choir serves a specific function (which requires certain kinds of repertoire), but this can vary from an Episcopal/Anglican choir that draws almost exclusively from British Anglican traditions to a choir that does primarily praise music . . . and everything in between.

School choirs have their own educational requirements that may vary considerably. Some public schools in the US may find it difficult to do much sacred music, or perhaps have pressure to “entertain.” There are always external expectations (tradition, administrative, parents) to deal with as well.

Most choirs have repertoire expectations associated with them (sometimes clearly laid out, sometimes not), from those that specialize in music of a certain period or ethnic background, to choirs with a distinct educational purpose. You may also have other expectations: an annual Messiah performance, a spring pops concert, a tour program, or what have you. All of this has to be taken into account.

Pro Coro Canada, my ensemble based in Edmonton, Alberta, is a professional chamber choir with a 6 or 7-concert series. I conduct 4 concerts, our associate conductor conducts one, and guests take the others. Since we’re an independent choir that needs sufficient ticket income to survive, I have to create programs that will be marketable and will appeal to our audience. While I’m given the power by the board to make all programming choices, with that goes the responsibility to make sure I draw audiences, too. That’s where balancing my needs (or desires) and the choir’s needs with what the audience is willing to hear. In the long run, I won’t keep my job if audiences disappear and no one’s happy with the music we do.

Like most of you, we do a Christmas concert that has fairly broad appeal each year. We also have the tradition of a Good Friday concert—this doesn’t have to be specifically music for Lent, Good Friday, or Easter, but should fit generally—thus we’ve done a number of different Requiems, Bach’s Mass in B Minor Ivan Moody’s Passion and Resurrection, a wonderful commissioned work by Alberta composer Allan Bevan (Nou goth sonne under wood—the audience came to hear the Mozart Requiem, but Allan’s was the piece that got the extended standing ovation), and Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil. As a professional choir supported by the Canada Council, we need to do significant Canadian works each season. Additionally, for the past number of years we’ve had a grant from the Wirth Foundation for Central European Studies to support doing all the late masses of Haydn, along with works by other composers from central Europe. There are then a lot of “givens” in any season I plan. I also want guest conductors to bring something special to the choir (thinking of the choir’s long-term growth, remember?) and I therefore want them to do music they love and do well. I have to advise them (since they don’t know the choir or audience expectations) and they’ll have budget limitations, but I try to give them as much freedom as I can. Recent guest conductors have included Maria Guinand, Anders Eby, Gary Graden, Ivars Taurins, and Leonard Ratzlaff, all who bring something important to Pro Coro and the Edmonton community.

Every one of you has “givens” as well that are necessary and important in your repertoire planning/programming. I know that while much will be laid out for you, you shouldn’t forget to balance those with the needs of your choir for their own growth as well.

Yes, there’s still more . . .

Link to original posting