Choralista

The "future" of classical music radio?

2008-11-10T09:34:00.000-08:00

My casual carpool driver was playing KDFC Classical 102.1 FM on the way into work. They played some "new" music - the theme to "Back to the Future".

Can't... even... editorialize... so stunned....

Reprinted post: Richard Sparks on "Elitism" in choral music

2008-08-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

Renowned choral conductor, Dr. Richard Sparks, makes some interesting comments on the negative connotations of "elitism" in classical music. With his permission, I am reprinting two of his recent posts on the subject from his blog, Richard Sparks - Music, Conducting, Choirs.

Monday July 28, 2008

The term "Elitism"

Mark Swed, music reviewer for the LA Times, writes a great piece on the word "elitism" and its use in other fields (athletics, for example) as opposed to the arts.

He opens the article with, "Every now and then, writers at The Times lose a word. Mainly these are adjectives subject to misuse. Some years ago we were advised to let go of legendary. Similarly, don't expect to see iconic, which has become equally cheapened, in the paper much anymore.

The adjectival criminal I'd like to see handed over to the word police is elitist, especially in its relationship to the arts and popular culture. In the "elitist" Oxford English Dictionary, the first definition of "elite" is the "choice part, the best (of society, a group of people, etc.)," none of which sounds so terrible. But that is not what is meant when, say, classical music, my field, is scorned as elitist, as it regularly is."

This has bothered me for a long time. "Elitism" in the arts usually implies "stuck up," "snobbish," or worse. Yet we speak of "elite athletes" with no problem.

The arts are often considered expensive, only available to the "elite," not the ordinary Joe. Yet if you look at the cost of attending professional sporting events, pop/rock concerts, or other parts of pop culture, prices are certainly as high or higher.

Salaries for professional athletes or artists in the entertainment world are far more "elite" than those in the arts.

So why is elite a bad word in the arts, yet not so in other areas?

I say it's time to reclaim the words "elite" and "elitism" for their proper place in popular culture for the arts.

(Click here to address comments to the author, or to see original post)

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Another elitism essay

Following on Mark Swed's column, Geoff Schumacher in the Los Vegas Review Journal writes about his own views. A short excerpt:

All this talk of elitism came to mind last week when I spent an hour in the company of Libby Lumpkin, director of the Las Vegas Art Museum. She gave me a tour of the museum's current exhibit, "Las Vegas Collects Contemporary," and discussed the challenge of educating Las Vegans about the merits of modern art.

Modern, or contemporary, art often is put in the same category as classical music: "elitist." In an essay in the museum's most recent newsletter, Lumpkin tackles the issue head on:

"It has been said that today's contemporary art community is an elitist society. Indeed it is. As elitist societies go, however, the contemporary art community is a peculiarly democratic one since anyone who wants to may join. Members come from almost every nation and ethnic background, and include nearly all income brackets, education levels and age groups. Only two essential criteria are required for participation: an openness to the concept that ideas are embodied by the forms artists create, and a willingness to confront objects that may challenge conventional wisdom, reshape cultural values or test assumptions about how we see."

Worth reading the whole article.

(Click here to address comments to the author, or to see original post)

A Dilettante Invasion? Rather, a manifesto?

2008-06-24T16:13:00.000-07:00

This was originally part of a post on my personal blog. The original posting lost focus, so I decided to move this discussion over here... especially since I haven't posted anything here in quite some time.

Some may argue that part-time professional musicians like myself are selfish dilettantes who take away income from the more deserving full-time musicians. Objectively speaking, this is true. In fact, we dilettantes can even be accused of creating an artificially undervalued labor pool, making it even harder for our full-time brethren to make a living. I've often heard (muttered under one's breath...) "you don't see me trying to do physics on the side...". To this, I say, poo. I am going to be heartlessly capitalistic here, but if we dilettantes are talent-wise competitive with the full-timers, then we deserve to compete for the same gigs. Plus, I don't see us as being all that much of a threat. We are not as flexible time-wise, and thus cannot make the same commitments to work which the full-timers can make. (Regular day-time rehearsals? Week-long tours? Forget it). Also, many employers can tell from a resume whether an auditionee is part-time or full-time based on education and experience. In short, they can sniff out the dilettantes, and certainly weigh this information into their hiring decision.

Also, to those who say, "you don't see my doing physics on the side," I doubt that you are acting out of deference and respect for my commitment to my career. Rather, physics does not interest you, and physics as a vocation is not something that can be pursued on your own time. Music is just as difficult and "noble" a career as any other, but it is also one where there is no clear line drawn between occasional commitment and full vocation. It's a mixed blessing. Music in America is undoubtedly healthier because each and every one of us has the right to fantasize about "making it" (look no further than American Idol), but certainly, emerging professionals suffer when such thinking increases the competitiveness of the hiring pool. Is it better to be an emerging professional in a more socialist government (i.e. any western european state) where professional singing opportunities are more regulated? (Well, certainly can't complain in the short term about State subsidization of classical music.)

This surely reveals a glaring chip on my shoulder and some of the personal issues which I have with taking myself seriously as a part-time musician, but nevertheless is an active area of debate in my mind. Any comments?

Congestion on the Choral Highway

2008-02-26T15:31:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-12T09:28:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-05T10:12:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-01T11:08:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-17T15:27:00.000-08:00

"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

2008-01-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

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

Working with high school singers: a win-win-win situation

2008-01-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

One of my choirs is entertaining the following proposal: feature a local high school choir as guest artist in our upcoming concert sets. They would be invited to sing a couple of numbers- hopefully one in collaboration with us. Here is why this is brilliant, from least to most important

Fill more seats (at the very least, their chauffeurs, oh excuse me, I mean, parents, will have to attend!)
Create a more varied program.
Show the kids that its cool to sing when you are an adult- its not just something to do when you are in school.
In our case, teach the kids about early music, which they may not get so much of in their choral program (check out kat's comments about pop music in high school choirs)
Use choral music to build community.

My group has pretty high performing standards, so we'll have to make sure that we give the kids an assignment that they will excel at (while all the while having fun!). I am confident that this is possible, and look forward to working with some fresh, young talent.

Clash of the Choirs comments

2008-01-04T13:10:00.001-08:00

Our wonderful new contributor, kat, has shared some observations made by herself and others on NBC's reality mini-series, Clash of the Choirs, which aired the week before Christmas. What did you all think of the show, and what impact could it make on classical choral music? I only watched the first 80% of the first episode (skipping the narrative to get to the performances), so I'll base my comments on that.

p.s. You are also encouraged to respond to this same topic in kat's following post, although she opens the floor up to ALL choral issues.

Battle of the Choirs

2008-01-04T12:30:00.000-08:00

Hey there, Kat here, taking over other people’s blogs in order to rant.
I'm a singer, and while not primarily a choral singer, that happens too.

Anyway, an amzing woman named Maggie Jochild recently offered a searing review of NBC’s Clash of the Choirs. I raked Mags over the coals for one sentence: “I learned that choirs don't have to sound like badly homogenized eunuchs (or Mormons)”

Anyway, after demanding an explanation (which was really rather rude of me, but I hope Maggie will forgive), Maggie asked some really interesting questions about the nature of choral music and its origins. I thought it would be interesting from choral and non-choral perspectives because I think a lot of musicians exist in a somewhat sheltered bubble of other musicians, and we forget that the outside world may not look at things the way we do. It’s important to look at things from the other side.

Choralista has considered the shift/decline in interest in choral music, and how that will work with the growing number of choirs (particularly in the Bay Area), and looking at Maggie’s thoughts could be really valuable to us as we plan concerts.

Here were Maggie’s questions:

One thing I realized as a result is that the groups I was comparing the TV shows' groups to, that I've heard in person, were either church-based (which probably have cultural and religious strictures on their sound that have nothing to do with music) or, in fact, actually labeled as choruses or chorales. Without hitting Wikipedia, I'm willing to bet I'm mixing apples with oranges, aren't I?
…
In addition, after thinking about it, I realize "eunuch" is an extremely poor choice of words. Partly because, on looking it up, I see it refers only to the castration of males instead of what I was (vaguely) aiming for, the removal of earthiness from human voice. Sex is not really the issue. Except -- I'm still confused here, clearly -- it does seem to me that the glorification of boy choirs has a great deal to do with seeing them as pre-sexual males. My mother went gaga over the Vienna Boys' Choir and her comments focused on how "sweet" they sounded, how "pure" and "untouched". Yikes. When, in fact, they sounded to me exactly the same as girls' choirs. What was so special about boys sounding like girls?
…
I DO want to hear choirs giving me a sound I can't experience another way, but still clearly human, rich, evocative. I'm not sure I know what "one voice" means to you. I felt like during the first performance by the LaBelle choir, where there was a sort of call and response, two halves of the choir singing back and forth to each other, that I was hearing something radically different and vibrant, enough to make me sit up and my blood start pumping. I kept looking for that every time they performed, and found it in between the sections where, yes, it was a soloist doing their shtick and getting back up.

I don't have the language to describe it, but I'm hoping you can elucidate further. Educate me, if you will.
…
America idolizes the perceived "amateur" but, well, they wind up sounding like Nick Lachey instead of Patti LaBelle, don't they?
…
But if I'm going to see a nationally televised show, I want to see professionals knocking my socks off.

Sooooo much good stuff to think about and consider. I hope I can shed some light into this, and I’ve taken over Choralista as well, in the hopes that if I leave anything out (or get it horribly wrong), I’ll be corrected.

Let’s start with definitions. In a strict sense of things, “Choir” refers to a group of people singing together, but also refers to the part of the church from which they sing (also spelled “quire”). Hence, choirs are church ensembles. The word doesn’t always get used that strictly anymore. A chorus or chorale is the same concept, of an ensemble of singers, but is more general and does not have the church connotation.

This is a technical description, though. Generally, chorus/choir/chorale are all pretty interchangeable, and refer to groups in which there is more than voice on a part.

The big question seems to be: Does choral music have to be classical or religious. The adverts for Clash of the Choirs said something about wanting to move choral music beyond those definitions. The trouble is that that’s not possible. In the context of Western music (which is the only kind I’m qualified to write about), the Church invented choral music. It grew out of Gregorian chant, in which all the monks/priests/whoever would chant in unison. In the middle ages, a second sung line was added, then another, then another, and eventually you get polyphonic choral music, which is made up of multiple lines all functioning more or less independently while singing at the same time.

We know about multi-part secular music, but off of the top of my head, I don’t know whether there is any evidence of Mediaeval/Renaissance choirs singing it. As far as I’ve read, it would have been printed for home use (got 4 people over for dinner, why not sing some madrigals!). Public performances of secular choral music seemed to come later.

With polyphonic music, all of the voice parts get more or less equal treatment. What Celeste and I were annoyed by in Clash of the Choirs was that the groups would give all the interesting music to one or two singers, and everyone else would stand behind and fill in the blanks. The precedent for that is in doo-wop or girl groups, not choral music. We’re not saying that this style is not legitimate, just that it’s not an accurate representation of choral music. The title conflates two very different styles.

In this modern day and age, do we have to have choral music that is religious or classical? Well, actually, yes. You’ve either got classical (Beethoven’s Ode to Joy from the 9th symphony, Mahler symphonies, madrigals) or religious (the masses of Mozart and Bach, Gospel, hymns, praise songs). Pop music has really not created any real choral music. There are ensembles, but mostly small ensembles of soloists, not lots-of-folks-on-a-part choirs.

What has happened, as “classical” and “popular” music have grown apart and the audience for “classical” has shrunk, is that choruses have tried arranging pop music for their own purposes. In high school the directors always give you Billy Joel or someone, arranged for 4 part harmony so that you’ll stop complaining about all the god references in the rest of the music. There’s a ton of pop songs that have been taken apart and reworked for a choir, which has always struck me as kind of strange. If I want to listen to Billy Joel, I’ll do that. I won’t put on Chanticleer-singing-Billy-Joel…

Moving on to the issue of homogeny within a choir: Ideally, you want each voice part to be made up of singers who sound similar. You want voices that “blend.” This usually means voices that are clear in tone, “pure” as opposed to dark or muddy. Generally, you also want voices that have little vibrato, which supposedly obscures the purity of a note (I’m more opera centric, and may or may not agree with this, so I’ll just move on). Why do we need this?? Well, if you have people with really individual, unique (not eunuch!) voices, that’s what you’ll hear. The effect will be of the voices themselves, which will obscure the over-arching lines and effects that the composer wants from the group as a whole. The best choirs seem to be made up of colorless voices, so that the color and tone of the group and of the composition, can come to the forefront.
In my opinion, the modern Scandinavian choirs are tops at this. There are some really innovative, avant-garde composers up there who take choral sound to the outer reaches of what you thought possible with vocal music.

The Anglophile Cambridge lovers will undoubtedly flog me for that last paragraph. I’m an alto, though, remember that before you try to beat me down!!!!

You can listen to an opera chorus (group o’ big voiced opera singers singing something like the “Anvil Chorus”) versus any group directed by Eric Ericsson for the differences between ensemble singing and choral singing.

This is what your Mum was probably referring to, Maggie. The Vienna Boys Choir (and just about any other boy choir) tout their singers “pure” voices as a way to convey the composer’s brilliance, rather than the brilliance of a particular performing artist. The focus is on the creation rather than the interpreters.

So, the boychoir issue. I saved this one for last, so as to rant more. Originally, in the early days of Catholicism, women were forbidden from singing in church. The exception would have been convents, but for the outside world, it was “screw you and your X chromosomes.” This presented music-minded clergy and choir directors with a problem. They wanted multi-part music, but couldn’t get women to sing the higher parts. So, in order to replicate the high voices of female singers, they brought in young boys. The started a really long tradition of boys singing in church. It spawned the British Cathedral School tradition, in which the large churches would use students from their schools in the choirs. I know several male singers who grew up in cathedral choir schools and are still dealing with the consequences as adults. We all know about the horrors committed at many a British boys’ school right? Well, add to that being in the choir and getting special treatment from all the teachers (like not having to take sports and having loads of free time while others are in classes), and imagine how they were treated by their fellow students. Loads of bullying, to say the least. Plus, the choir traditions don’t do anything in the way of actually teaching vocal technique, so these guys have tons of vocal problems, as well. They’re held up as having been professional singers since they were kids, but are not nearly as good, technically, as singers who started as teenagers or even young adults.
Anyway, aside from my friends’ experiences, there’s the sexism issue as well. Supporters of boychoir traditions insist that somehow boys’ voices are higher, purer, generally more special than girls’. And yes, Maggie, they frequently sound exactly the same. The first British cathedral choir to include girls (and even then, I think there are separate girls’ and boys’ groups, I don’t think they’re mixed) only did so in 1991.
“Tradition” is a great excuse, and gets attached to all sorts of silly practices. At some point, and I’m not sure when, some church dudes realized that if you castrate little boys, their voices never change, and they can sing high for all their lives…don’t ask me how they decided this was a good idea, I’d rather not think about it…anyway, castration prevented the larynx from doing whatever it does when boys go through puberty. The voice would stay high, but would change in other ways. Apparently, castrati had the small, very flexible vocal chords of children, but would grow to be very tall and barrel chested, so they would have lung capacity for days as well as high notes…their voices were said to be quite unique and interesting, which would have been a far cry from the colorless, “pure” sound of boys. So you do get your eunuchs, Maggie, but apparently they were really thrilling to listen to.

Basically, I think that children’s choirs are great as an activity for your kid, but there is no surviving reason to maintain the overly glorified boychoir stuff, with all its anachronisms. Oh wait, religions love anachronisms, don’t they…oops…

So, wanting to hear a unique choral sound that still has a warmth and humanity…Patti LaBelle’s group seemed to take its style from Gospel, which does use call and response as a device. I’m not a connoisseur of Gospel, so I can’t give you specific examples to look for. I think that this is where I’ll open the floor for suggestions. What recordings get you all hot and bothered, folks?

My favorite pieces are from the Renaissance, and are polyphonic. Renaissance polyphony allows for some really cool word painting and other effects. Look for Italian madrigals if you want secular. Lots of sexual innuendo will ensue (“The sweet and white swan dies while singing…”)

I hope that I’ve managed to answer some of the questions, and look forward to hearing more from anyone who’s got more info.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming…..

Inspiration from Jon Carroll

2007-12-13T15:07:00.000-08:00

My apologies for rarely posting. Conference followed by deadline followed by turkey followed by prolonged battle with the flu. I'm back.

The SF Chronicle's humor / daily life columnist, Jon Carroll, has written a column on of all unlikely topics, enjoying choral music. He sees that that the world is divided between those who would pick a choir concert over a football game on TV, and vice versa, and confesses to being part of the latter (and larger) camp. But, attending the recent San Francisco Bach Choir concert gave him reason to reflect. It is a beautiful column.

Musings on SF Bach Choir's December concert.

Tip 'o the nib to TdA for sending me the link.

Self-expression and the concert experience

2007-10-25T15:47:00.000-07:00

A few posts ago, I observed that a cappella music is much more popular today than classical choral music, and asked why. I strongly believe that individual audience members feel better able to express themselves at the former than the latter, and, again, that the fundamental issue lies beyond the popular roots of a cappella music.

When we are in our teens, twenties, even thirties, we are constantly searching for ourselves. The most obvious way to do so is through the reactions of others (i.e. social interaction). We go to clubs and to concerts not only to hear great music, but to meet other people and to assert our individual personalities in the context of the event. It is nowhere more obvious than at the Club, where participants are expected to engage in physical acts of self-expression, persistently asserting who they are through dance.

We may do other things than dance, clap, and sing along at a popular concert, but we are at all times self-conscious about how we are perceived at these events. We assert and express ourselves through acts of non-participation, as well- we may want to convey a sense of mystery and cool through the aloof act of walking away from the stage.

We are usually free to move around the cabin, to socialize, to eat, drink, and even smoke [outside of California] during the event. While concert etiquette still applies in popular music performance, even when confined to assigned seating, one is free to sing along, tap feet wave hands, verbally respond to the presumably charismatic performer, eat, drink, etc. Even when the performer has the crowd completely mesmerized, the individual never loses sense of who they are. Last November, I went to a big U2 stadium concert, and couldn’t help but join tens of thousands of others, losing myself completely to the power of the crowd and of Bono’s charisma, yet never forgetting that it was my whole person, not just a brain and heart having this experience. Being one-in-the-crowd was just as human an experience as being that individual in a club dancing up a storm or bobbing in the corner with ones eyes soulfully closed.

It goes without saying that pop concerts and clubs are fertile social meeting grounds, and are more sexually charged than the classical concert hall. Face it- there is a much greater chance that you’ll ‘get lucky’ at a club or rock concert hall than at the Symphony.

This freedom of expression is, in part, granted through technology. Pop music performances are electronically amplified, so our behavior [usually] does not pose a distraction.. No matter how raucous the audience becomes, the artists always have the upper hand in setting the tone of our experience.

Can one allow individual audience members a similar freedom of expression in a classical music concert? Can this be achieved in live, acoustic performance? Do we have to check our personality at the door? Must we always have a quiet, ‘contemplative’ experience with this music, without interfering in the experience of the rest of the audience or of the artists?

Outdoor festival concerts allow more freedoms than those in concert halls. We are free to spread our picnic blanket, eat our lunch, read our book or newspaper, let the kids run free around the back of the amphitheater, snuggle with our loved ones, ever (god forbid) talk during the performance. While electronic amplification is helpful in this endeavor, these liberties are foremost granted because everyone understands that the tone is going to be more casual. Opera simulcasts afford similar liberties. But, is the only solution to squeeze classical music into the stadium concert experience? Can more liberties be granted to the audience in smaller, more intimate venues?

Other Pioneers: Greg Sandow & "Butts in the Seats"

2007-10-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Lisa, I have learned about another innovator / pioneer in this realm of modernizing live classical music, Greg Sandow. Our blog preface echoes the sentiments expressed in his (quoted below).

...I think classical music will change, maybe drastically. The economics of the way we do things now won't work in the future. The audience is shrinking. There's something rigid, stuffy, artificial in the old presumptions that classical music is the only serious music, that it has to be treated with reverence (and scholarship), and that old masterworks are more important than new compositions (which isn't what many people say out loud, but is clearly how the business works).

I'm adding Greg's blog to the list of links in the sidebar.

Also, Butts in the Seats is another useful blog on performance arts management.

I'll take this moment to shine the spotlight on Lisa's blog Iron Tongue of Midnight. This is another outstanding and personal-yet-highly-informed perspective on the present-day workings of the classical music world. Lisa, I'm honored that you are helping me with this project!

One Possible Solution to Some Problems

2007-10-23T20:55:00.000-07:00

Reposted, with minor edits, from Iron Tongue of Midnight, where I wrote this in June:

Celeste Winant has written about the tendency of multiple choruses in the Bay area to perform on the same weekend, which happens at least three or four times a year. She is also trying to do something about it.

There are plenty of reasons for choruses to do some schedule coordination. We're all in competition for the same pool of free-lance musicians. We all want to sing in the same venues. Some choristers sing in multiple choruses. Choristers are also audience members, and we want to hear what other groups are doing. Hell, we're in competition for the same audience for choral music.

I think we might need something like the Gotham Early Music Scene to help out. This group plans to "help [early music groups in NYC] with marketing, ticket sales, merchandising and assembling the financial data required for grant applications."

Sheer genius: take this specialized work off the hands of small performing groups that don't have the time or infrastructure to do the best possible job with those tasks. Can we figure something out in the Bay Area to do this for choruses?

Listen first to the pioneers: Adapistration

2007-10-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

Other classical musicians have long been grappling with the question of how to keep art-music alive and well in the 21st century. Rather than regurgitate (and take credit for) all previous brainstormings, I would like to draw your attention to Adapistration, moderated by orchestral musician, manager and entrepreneur, Drew McManus. He writes from the vantage point of managing the modern orchestra, but the majority of his observations and discussions mirror the issues we must face as well. He has been quoted in articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune, as well as numerous other nationally syndicated publications, and has authored seminal articles on re-energizing classical music performance.

I desperately need to get my hands on these! In the meanwhile, content yourself with reading Mr. McManus's introduction to Adapistration.

Choral versus A Cappella

2007-10-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

I've made an un-scientific inquiry into the relative Bay Area popularity of two vocal art-forms; classical choral music and a cappella.

Yahoo! hosts e-mail groups for devotees of both; Bay Area Choral List, (yahoo! group name ba-choral) and Bay Area A Cappella, (yahoo! group name ba-acappella). ba-choral has, at present 147 members, and ba-acappella has 920. I would gather that there are fewer a capella singers than choir members in the Bay Area, which leads me to believe that a large number of the members of ba-acapella are purely fans. Is a capella 6.25 times more popular than choral music?

This begs the question, why would a capella be more popular than choral groups which perform the standard repertoire? I want to look beyond obvious reasons, namely, that a capella is a form of popular music with roots in American folk song, Rock, Soul, Gospel, Hip Hop, and Jazz, or that a capella in this country is almost always performed in English. I want to explore, in particular, two reasons for its greater appeal. When compared with performances of the standard choral repertoire,

A cappella better vivifies the personality and charisma of the individual performers
A cappella allows for more varied audience response, participation and expression

Can these freedoms be better granted to choral performers and audiences without ditching the standard repertoire? This will be explored in detail in a future post. If you have any thoughts on this topic, let me know.

Does poor scheduling squander market share?

2007-10-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

Last year, I observed in my personal blog that too often, multiple choirs gave conflicting concerts on a given weekend. This seems to be a huge recipe for disaster. Our audience is already so small. Why pit one choir against another and fight over scraps?

My guess at the time was that choirs rarely considered other groups' schedules before setting their own. I ideaslistically thought that if groups bothered to pay attention to what was already set on the schedule, there may be less of these so called choral car pile-ups.

Last spring, I started a yahoo group and calendar, Bay Area Choral Schedule, and invited all fellow choralistas, choir directors, and choir executives to join. I solicited a nice-enough response. Twenty or so Bay Area choral mavens have signed on, and between their input and my own research, I have posted schedules for over 30 different active Bay Area choral groups (including symphony and college choruses).

The sheer number of groups tells me something already. Conflicts in the choral schedule are unavoidable. So, better coordination between groups may not amount to much.

The Christmas choral season is upon us. Many weekends in November and December host as many seven or more different choral concerts around the Bay Area on a given night. December 1st boasts the record of hosting nine concerts which I know of, by groups including Bay Area Classical Harmonies, the California Bach Society, Cantabile, Cantare Chorale, Creative Voices, San Francisco Lyric Chorus, Schola Cantorum Mountain View, Soli Deo Gloria and the Tallis Scholars (presented by Cal Performances). The Christmas season is exceptional, though, in that our audience temporaily balloons to include all people desiring an injection of Yuletide choral cheer.

Other weekends host anywhere from one to six events (which I know of), with a median number of approximately three. Many Bay Area groups present three concerts; one in San Francisco, one in the South Bay on Penninsula, and one in the East Bay. They could take care to never present in the same locality as a competing group on a given night. These are detailed tweaks. In reality, issues like staff and artist availability ultimately dominate scheduling, leaving conflict avoidance in the triage pile.

Using Web Sites Effectively

2007-10-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

This is a response to Celeste's previous posting.

Alex Ross has blogged quite a bit over the last few years about the internet and musical groups. Applying some of what he has said, information Drew McManus has posted at Adaptistration, and what I have put together from looking at different musical organizations' web site, I have all sorts of ideas about what's useful:

Have a web site!
Made it good-looking and functional.
Keep it accurate and up to date.
Post sound samples within what's legal. I personally know nothing about how royalties work when a performance of copyrighted music is posted on the net.
Sell tickets on the site.
Have a provision for people to make donations to the group.
Have a mailing list sign-up page. Um, email list.
Post photos.
Have audition info posted - dates, audition process, who to contact.

Alex Ross: The Well-Tempered Web

2007-10-19T17:14:00.000-07:00

New Yorker classical music critic Alex Ross writes an optimistic article about the synergy between the classical music recording business and the Web. Perhaps not all is lost? The article, titled, The Well-Tempered Web, can be found in the October 22, 2007 edition of the magazine.

Why care?

2007-10-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

I have been part of numerous San Francisco Bay Area choral start-ups over the last 4 years. These projects spanned the entire amateur-professional spectrum, in terms of artistry. While, in each case, the music making was deeply rewarding, the box-office returns were more often than not, disappointing, if not disastrous. No classical music start-up can survive purely on the concert-revenue-driven business model. Things are harder for us than for our pop musician compatriots.

All classical music groups eventually recognize that outside support is an absolute necessity in these endeavors. Fund-raising and grant-seeking take up a large fraction of the effort of a non-profit arts organization. Our colleagues across the Atlantic still benefit from relatively generous support from State-funded agencies. Here, in the U.S.A., we scour the sidewalks for $50 here and there from friends, $500 from various foundations, hoping and praying that some former oil baron will send us that magical 5-figure check needed to bankroll most professional projects.

If we were to succeed in raising all of the external support necessary to produce a concert, the ghost of Adam Smith would still whisper in my ear, "Why go through all the effort if no one is going to consume your product?" In less technocratic terms, why put on a performance if no one out there wants to share in the experience? An empty house is emotionally devastating and demoralizing. What are we trying to do? Are we trying to force the public to buy typewriters and horse-drawn buggies when they really want iPhones and SUV's? Are classical choral concerts going the way of the Vaudeville show?

My classical music friends and I are fighting this rising tide of disappointment. We are guided by one simple principle. If we are passionate about this art-form, then it must have the possibility of resonating with the wider public. The question is, how.