A Thematic Approach to Planning Choral Programs

Transcription

1 ChorTeach page 3 cifi c composer, genre, or geographical area and are painstakingly prepared for authenticity and faithfulness to the composer's original intent. If your local university library does not have scholarly editions, reference librarians can help you locate particular works and have them ed to you. Since most of these early works are in the public domain, many libraries will send copies of portions of these editions through interlibrary loan. While most quality online music reference sources are subscription-based, many university libraries subscribe to these services. Some universities allow their students and graduates proxy access to these databases from any location. Here are a few of the more important sources I have found helpful: The Index to Printed Music: Collection & Series (IPM, available through EBSCO at Contains more than 400,000 index records to individual works published in scholarly collections reputable music publishers. Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM at www. rism.info). A comprehensive documentation of available manuscripts and printed music sources in libraries, archives, monasteries, schools, and private collections worldwide. Oxford Music Online ( The lists of works following composer biographies can be used to verify authorship and to identify available collected editions. Identifying discrepancies is yet another vital reason for extensive pre-rehearsal score study. Conductors should study available editions before purchasing a work in order make a determination as to which edition is best. The edition you choose can make a huge difference. Careful score study can save many rehearsal headaches, for you and your performers. You should be a lantern for yourself. Draw close to the light within you and seek no other shelter. Buddhist wisdom A Thematic Approach to Planning Choral Programs Shereé Stoppel Mill Valley High School, Shawnee Kansas (Used with permission of the author) When high school choral directors begin thinking about concerts for the upcoming school year, fi nding appropriate literature which is educational, challenging, and aesthetically enriching for the varying abilities of the students can be problematic. I have found that utilizing a thematic approach to programming choosing works based on a single theme helps uncover a variety of music which meets students needs and becomes a basis for another avenue of community involvement in your school. Early in the summer, I begin making lists of possible concert themes. Then the search for music begins. I use a number of sources: Google Online publisher s sites such as J. W. Pepper, Walton Music, Santa Barbara Music, Brilee Music, Hal Leonard The Green Book of Songs Subject, Jeff Green Choral reading sessions at conventions ACDA Choralnet at (click on Repertoire) Valuable ideas have also come from colleagues recommendations while attending conventions, camps, and concerts. Knowing each choir s abilities and potential is crucial in choosing

2 ChorTeach page 4 the best music possible, as you well know. Checking music availability with your music retailer during the summer also lets you know about titles that are no longer in print. You then have time to choose another title, contact the publisher for permission to copy, or contact colleagues to borrow from their libraries. Planning in advance also allows you to determine how far your budget will go and if you need to schedule fund raising projects. I plan four major concerts a year at my school. My goal is to offer our singers a wide-ranging musical buffet of moods and styles: Themed concert October Holiday music December Contest music March Pops concert May When I choose a theme, I also decide if a community service project will fi t with the topic. For instance, when we presented a patriotic-theme concert, Songs of War and Peace, I contacted area veterans groups and invited them to our concert as special guests. We included the color guard from a local Vietnam Veterans group who presented the fl ags while an ensemble sang The Star Spangled Banner. We gave away a large American fl ag during the concert to an audience member who entered the free drawing. As patrons left the auditorium, we had boxes at the doors for monetary donations to the city s Veteran s Memorial. Our students were deeply touched to see uniformed men and women in the audience for this concert. During the Armed Forces Salute medley, members of each military branch stood and saluted during their respective song. Five choirs presented a variety of songs: I. SSA/SSAA Songs of War and Peace Dona Nobis Pacem (unison processional) Homeland/Stroope Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye/Parker Battle Hymn of the Republic/Wilhousky II. TB/TTB The Blue and the Gray/Spevacek Armed Forces Salute/Eilers included a slide show of members from the armed services III. Letters from War/Schultz solo Abraham, Martin, and John duet IV. SATB In Flanders Fields/Tilley Inscription of Hope/Stroope Tenting Tonight/Berkey Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi/Childs In Remembrance/Daley Anthem of Peace/Wilberg -- Double SATB Choir River Jordan/Brymer I Hear America Singing/Thomas Peace Song/Gilpin God Bless America/Shaw Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor/Brymer combined choirs Solos and duets are an excellent means for breaking up the fl ow of a concert and allowing choirs to get onto risers behind closed curtains. Combining choirs for a fi nale at the end of a performance gives all singers a reason to stay until the end and shows your audience that large numbers of students are involved in the choir department at your school. Another of our themed concerts included a community service project and was framed around food If Music Be the Food of Love. We sold cookie dough and coffee that fall as fund raising projects and served cookies at a reception following the concert as our way of thanking those who helped our cause. Although we don t charge admission to our concerts, we did ask for a donation of a food item to be given to a local food bank as admission. The response was overwhelming. We delivered nearly 1,000 items to a food bank. If Music Be the Food of Love I. SSA Fame is a Fickle Food/Gray

3 ChorTeach page 5 If Music Be the Food of Love/Quilter unison Hey, Ho Nobody s Home/Gilpin II. TTB Vive l Amour/traditional Frisco Bay/Carter Food, Glorious Food/Lewis Seasons of Love/Huff a bit of a stretch, but we season food, don t we? III. SATB Play with Your Food Mashed Potatoes/Carey Banquet Fugue/Rutter Tea for Two/Gilpin Scarborough Fair/Palmer Ol Dan Tucker/Martin Coffee in a Cardboard Cup/Robison Animal Crackers/Whitacre Wade in the Water/Hayes If Music Be the Food of Love/Dickau A Real Nice Clambake/Rodgers & Hammerstein combined choirs A prism concept was employed during one holiday concert. It allowed the presentation of a large number of selections in a shorter amount of time than is usually required. Instead of having each choir fi le onto the stage, sing three or four songs and fi le off while another choir prepares to walk on, a prism concert allows for a variety of areas of the auditorium to be used while each choir is featured. I utilized aisles, corners of the stage, exchanged choirs onstage while the audience participated in a sing-along, and reserved a circle of seats in the audience for a small student ensemble to sit until they stood in the dark and sang with battery powered candles. Being creative with the size and shape of the performance hall is key when organizing a prism concert. It is important to inform the audience that various areas of the auditorium will be in use so the attendees must keep aisles and doorways clear. One choir can sing from the stage and remain there as wallpaper while another choir sings in the aisles or a piano duet or soloist performs. Narration students or administration fi gures will keep the attention of the audience while groups quietly move in and out of position. This particular concert involved four choirs and two small ensembles and lasted under 60 minutes! The Spirit of the Season It s the Spirit of the Season/Sterling (SATB) Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!/Beck (SATB) Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer audience sing-along while choirs move Silver Bells/Snyder (SAB) Candy Cane Lane/Huff (SSA) Hot Chocolate/Emerson (SATB) Mister Santa/We Need a Little Christmas/Emerson (SSA) We Wish You a Merry Christmas/Alexander piano duet My Favorite Things/Rodgers & Hammerstein (SSA) You re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch/Funk (combined TBB with a faculty member starring as the Grinch) The Christmas Song/Torme and Wells solo Rockin Around the Christmas Tree/Marks (SSA ensemble) Believe/Huff (SATB) Jingle Bells audience sing-along Auld Lang Syne/Burns (SATB ensemble) It s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year/Billingsley (SATB) Spirit of the Season Reprise all choirs return to the stage while singing The March concert always features songs appropriate for contest, even if some choirs will not be competing. I challenge each choir with foreign languages or composers of more diffi cult music. I use the KSHSAA (Kansas State High School Activities Association) Required List to choose a number of the selections. This is also an opportunity to educate the audience about the rigors of being judged, the judging rubric, and the National

4 ChorTeach page 6 Music Standards. A copy of the judging rubric is included in the program. I talk about the judging process in general. Audience members are encouraged to be the judges and write on the rubric during a performance of one selection. I believe program notes are important for all concerts but particularly necessary for this March concert as a means of avoiding alienating audience members who are uncomfortable with music in foreign languages. It is acceptable to program a song for the fall concert, and then bring it back second semester as a contest selection. For example, Gypsy Life Schumann can be sung in English for a fall Folk Song Concert. The same work but with German text can be added for contest as the second semester begins. This is also a good time to feature small ensembles and vocal or piano soloists who are preparing contest music. Since the May Pops Concert comes so quickly after contest in April, I plan fewer songs for the choirs and encourage soloists to audition to complete the program. Each fall, I announce the theme of the spring Pops Concert to all classes. Students who are interested in auditioning for a solo enjoy the challenge of fi nding songs appropriate for the theme. Our choir T-shirts refl ect the concert theme. We wear them with jeans and tennis shoes for the performance. Here is a sampling of pops concert themes and song titles. The British Invasion Love is All You Need Medley/Emerson You ll Be in My Heart/Lojeski Andrew Lloyd Webber Medley/Brymer Don t Stop/Shaw True Colors California Dreamin /Emerson Over the Rainbow/Hayes What a Wonderful World/Brymer True Colors/Huff That '70s Thing YMCA/Emerson -- features administrators dancing! We Are Family/Shaw You re the One That I Want/Funk Bohemian Rhapsody/Lawson Fun in the Sun Walking on Sunshine/Huff California Girls/Lojeski Surfi n USA/Brymer It s Raining Men/Shaw I Love a Rainy Night/Rabbit Broadway since 1980 Bring Him Home/Leavitt For Good/Huff Fame/Funk Let s Hear it for the Boy/Billingsley Circle of Life/Christopher Once Upon a Time To Everything There is a Season/Harris I ve Had the Time of My Life/Huff The Longest Time/Emerson Once Upon a Time/Zegree Planning concerts for the entire school year can seem like a daunting task, but the investment of time and energy is worth it. Your knowing that everything is in place and that the music is available for all performances frees you to focus on consistent, conceptual, student-oriented teaching in each choir. Sometimes you fi nd out that several titles need to be changed, but that is easier than planning one concert at a time during the school year, ordering the music, and handling the stress of teaching each day. Early planning in the summer puts you in a different frame of mind and allows for greater creativity in your teaching and the ability to handle extra performances that always occur. Thematic programming can be a powerful tool for bringing your community to your school. As choral directors, I believe we are important ambassadors when we present our students in live performances for patrons who might not otherwise come in contact with our singers. By making our students aware that their performances can enrich the lives of others through community service

5 ChorTeach page 7 projects, we enlarge their understanding of civic responsibility. Our school administrators will be more willing to support our music programs when they see that we are reaching out to the community through sharing our music. It s a win-win situation for everyone. The kinder and more thoughtful a person is, the more kindness he can fi nd in other people. Perhaps Wishing Will Make It So Leo Tolstoy know what I wish? I wish for! Try this simple tool. Maybe your students can help develop the list s contents, and perhaps all your wishes (and theirs) can come true! Retzko s Wish List Listen carefully around you NO diphthongs Take in more air than you need Warm tone quality Breath energy always Pure vowels Secure rhythms Breathe to the end of a phrase and beyond Don t over-sing Know how important you are to the entire choir! Barbara Retzo Ridge High School, Basking Ridge, New Jersey (Used with permission of the author) After a recent conversation with several choral colleagues with whom I must have said a dozen times, I wish my choir would..., I decided to create a wish list for our high school ensembles simple concepts like pure vowel sounds, unifi ed choral blend, and warm tone quality. I placed these wishes on the whiteboard in our rehearsal room and began referring to them in every rehearsal. Soon I realized that the singers were buying into the idea of making those wishes come true. I could ask a question about sections of the repertoire, and student responses would come straight from the board and with a better understanding of what it was I was looking for in rehearsals and performances. As a fun gift, one of the sophomores created a poster for display in the choir room. I reference it in almost every rehearsal. It has become a successful teaching tool! What would be on your choral rehearsal wish list? I challenge you to create your own and then ask your classes: You Questions from the Choral Conscience While enrolled in graduate school, I came into contact with the legendary teacher/conductor Howard Swan at the end of his life. Though he was not teaching much at that point, his presence had a great impact on how I thought about our profession. The questions of why we do what we do and how we think about what we do have framed my professional life ever since. I often think about them as I start a new year of teaching. Steven Zopfi University of Pudget Sound, Tacoma, Washington (Reprinted with permission of Northwest ACDA's online newsletter www. nwacda.org, Spring 2011)