Choir Rehearsal 11/3/08

In my hope to be more consistent in blogging I've decided to make it a habit to write some quick thoughts after our weekly choir rehearsal. I'm reading a great book called "The Robert Shaw Reader" which is about a conducting hero of mine, Robert Shaw. He used to write his world famous choirs letters after specific rehearsals when he thought they needed a strong kick in the pants or some extra encouragement on the great job they were doing. I believe this is one of his greatest legacies and in trying to offer what little insight I might have here goes the same.

To My Favorite Choir on Earth,

I begin this letter (blog) by expressing my gratitude to you. It must take a lot to put up with my eccentric behavior and absolute craziness during rehearsals. I hope you know that every ounce of it comes from my absolute and deepest desire to make true music happen. It is my humble opinion that true music happens to infrequently. Sure, notes are sung (some better than others) and lyrics expressed but that isn't making music. Anyone can learn to sing a few notes on a page. Music is made when we passionately pursue what the composer was wrestling with. When we enter into his struggle between text and notes and phrasing and all of the rest of the beauty that makes great music. Granted, some of the music we sing was created with little struggle, but we must pursue all of it with the same passion and fight whether it's penned by Brahms or Clydesdale.
I believe that we are beginning to make this change. We are beginning to take on the fight together. Tonight it seemed as if we all wanted the same thing - to create great music. We must continue to care about correct cut-offs, to pursue dynamics within the dynamics and most importantly to listen to not only the people around you but the entire choir to create that unified sound that we are all striving for. I hope that when you have those "ah-ha" moments of glorious music making they inspire you on to create more. Music isn't born out of repetitive rehearsals and a lack-luster approach. It's created when artists pursue it with reckless abandon. I want to inspire you to believe in your talent and trust your gifting. My goal is to inspire each of you to exhude confidence in yourself so that we can attack notes and phrases together instead of the opposite, which is waiting for the person sitting next to you to lead. This makes for sloppiness and we are not a sloppy choir. We must be a choir that ferociously hunts for each musical entrance and extends each note of length until we unanimously cut it off with the precision of a brain surgeon. Tonight we pursued these things. We might not have captured each one but at least we were hunting. I'm looking forward to continuing our pursuit next week.