Rehearsing well

How can you make your rehearsals more efficient and accomplish more? How can your rehearsals motivate and inspire your singers? That's the topic of my next series of blog posts.

This is an area that I strongly believe is both craft and art. But what do I mean by that?

There is a distinct element craft--"knowing one's craft"--in rehearsal. What are principles behind good sequencing in a rehearsal? Pacing? Techniques to solve problems? All of these are part of a craft that is learnable and can be refined and improved over time.

What do I mean by "art," however?

Mathematicians speak of certain proofs as being more "elegant" than another, equally correct proof. Just as we could all approach a particular rehearsal problem differently (and would!)--all of us getting to essentially the same place--some conductors might have a more "elegant" approach or solution. We can usually recognize the master teacher, the conductor whose rehearsals flow through the variety of works in a way that seems effortless, whose actions solve more than one problem at a time, and that speak to the expressive and musical elements in the music--we are often amazed by how quickly the ensemble improves. Those are elegant (and yes, artistic) rehearsals. Singers usually leave them inspired (not tired, although sometimes a "good" exhaustion from productive work) and wanting more.

Young conductors will mostly be concerned with the craft of rehearsal, learning how to efficiently get from A to B, to make sure that their rehearsals are well sequenced and paced, that little time is lost in unproductive activities, that they hear (and anticipate) problems and find ways to solve them quickly. As conductors gain experience, they can look to master teachers for ideas of how they can lift parts of their rehearsals from wonderful craft to (at least some of the time) art.

I love the process of rehearsing--it is, after all, where we spend most of our time, not in performance. So that's what this series will be about. I recently saw this picture, from the theatre world, which elegantly explains this:

I re-posted this on Facebook and someone asked about where the conductors preparation was--my colleague Clay Couturiaux responded, "that's the ocean." Oh how true!

Looking ahead to our national conference in Dallas (are you going?? you should!!), there are two sessions specifically about rehearsal technique: one by Pamela Elrod Huffman on the techniques of Robert Shaw and one by Graeme Langager on rehearsal techniques that come out of the music. Believe me, I'll be at both! And Dale Warland will have a session on his work which will certainly touch on important elements of rehearsal as well.

Hope to see you there!

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Lovely article about choral music in Latvia

The article in Grammophone, a guest blog by composer Gabriel Jackson, tells us a bit about choral music in Latvia:

A nation of singers

Latvia is a country steeped in a wonderful choral tradition

Gabriel Jackson 2:42pm GMT 7th January 2013

As I write this I’m getting ready for a trip to Riga – my first in over two years – for meetings and to catch up with old friends and colleagues.  Over the last decade I’ve been a regular visitor to this bustling, compact, yet grand city on the edge of the Baltic, exploring its vibrant and exciting cultural life, especially its music. Of particular interest to me, naturally, is its contemporary music which is thriving – there is more to Latvia than Pēteris Vasks, master though he is –  thanks to figures like Pēteris Plakidis, Uģis Prauliņš, Andris Dzenitis, Ēriks Ešenvalds and Rihards Dubra that are still too little known in Western Europe.

And then there is singing. In the UK we are justly proud of our choral tradition (though some choirs seem to think you only have to be British to be good) but are rather insular when it comes to investigating the equally long-lived and distinguished choral cultures of others.  And singing is what Latvians do. I don’t know what percentage of the population is in a choir but it must be pretty high; it’s certainly taken very seriously and every Latvian I know can sing, and does. The country has a huge repertory of folk songs, many of which everybody knows. (Encore Pūt vējiņi in a concert and you will hear audible sighs of recognition and pleasure from the audience.) Recognised by UNESCO as a ‘masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity’, the five-yearly song festivals see thousands of performers sing to audiences numbered in the hundreds of thousands in a specially-built amphitheatre. During Jāņi, the summer solstice celebrations, Latvians head for the countryside, jump over bonfires, drink, and…sing – a lot!

In a country of 2.2 million people there are two full-time professional chamber choirs, the State Choir ‘Latvija’ and the Latvian Radio Choir. (The UK, by the way, has only one – the BBC Singers.) The Riga Dom Cathedral Boys Choir (which has men in it too!) is one of the great all-male choirs of the world. The youth choir Kamer… regularly give performances of astonishing virtuosity and dedication. But it’s not just the ubiquity of singing and the skill of its practitioners that’s impressive, it’s the sheer sound of Latvian choirs that is so remarkable and so different from our own: there is a particular purity and clarity (much lighter-voiced tenors, for example) but also a plangency, a richness and intensity that is totally compelling. Conductor Māris Sirmais describes it as combining the best of the Germanic and Russian traditions (both occupiers of Latvia…), but is it fanciful to suggest that the pain of centuries of oppression and the struggle to maintain some kind of national identity and dignity is also what gives the sound of Latvian choirs a particular emotional authenticity and quiet strength? (In 2010 the State Choir were rehearsing my piece A ship with unfurled sails, a setting of words by the Estonian Doris Kareva; when I explained that the poem was written in Soviet times and so the long-awaited ship represented independence, the whole atmosphere of the performance changed because, of course, they understood. It was unbearably moving.)

A few summers ago I was walking through Dom Square during the Riga Festival and on a street corner I saw a group of lads in their late teens doing what teenagers the world over do – smoking, drinking and messing about. They were all in national costume – they’d obviously just been performing – and were quite unselfconscious about standing around wearing what many young people would find embarrassingly folkish and, well, just plain naff. Sights like this, or that of a group of office boys attending the opera after work whereas in London they’d be getting drunk in a City wine bar, are telling instances of the way that singing is at the heart of everyday life in Latvia in a way that we should only envy. It must be hoped that as Latvia continues its re-integration into the Europe to which it has always really belonged singing will remain one of its central and defining preoccupations for its choirs are among the great glories of the world.

I can’t wait to board that plane

Gabriel Jackson’s A ship with unfurled sails has just been released on Hyperion, recorded by the State Choir Latvija and conducted by Maris Sirmais. For details visit the Hyperion website.

Norman Lebrecht interviews available free

British critic Norman Lebrecht has done a great series of interviews for the BBC. Now available free for download here.

Quite the list of musicians:

1	John Adams
2	Riccardo Muti
3	Andris Nelsons
4	Graham Vick
5	Lilian Hochhauser
6	Ivan Fischer
7	Menahem Pressler
8	Gustavo Dudamel
9	Janet Baker
10	Edward Gardner
11	Monica Mason
12	Valery Gergiev
13	Richard Rodney Bennett
14	Thomas Quasthoff
15	Deborah Borda
16	Semyon Bychkov
17	Patrice Chereau
18	Clive Gillinson
19	Stephen Kovacevich
20	Joyce DiDonato
21	Roger Norrington
22	Simone Young
23	Marilyn Horne
24	Riccardo Chailly

Diane Loomer remebrance in Chorus America

Chorus America has a nice remembrance of Diane Loomer:

Celebrating the Life of Diane Loomer, C.M. 1940-2012

December 20th, 2012

On December 10th, the choral world lost one of its celebrated and respected choral conductors. Diane Loomer died in Vancouver, Canada after a short illness. She was 72. Here Chorus America board members Susan Knight and Leonard Ratzlaff remember their colleague and friend.

A native of Minnesota, USA, Diane moved to Vancouver in 1962. She was known for her many contributions in the choral sphere, but perhaps most prominently for her co-founding, with Morna Edmundson, of the women’s choir Elektra (1987) and the founding of the men’s choir Chor Leoni (1992). The latter was inspired by Sweden’s renowned male choir, Orphei Drängar, founded by Eric Ericson. Both Elektra and Chor Leoni performed and toured nationally and internationally, as well as regularly recording and broadcasting. Both choirs were in receipt of many accolades for their choral excellence. In 2007, Diane created her last ensemble, EnChor, intended for experienced singers “who had reached their 55th birthday”.

In addition to her choirs, Diane led an active career as a guest conductor and clinician. In 1994, she was the first female musician to conduct Canada’s National Youth Choir. She was a leader and encourager of choral colleagues and singers alike. Mentorship of young choral musicians was important to Diane, and she established programs to nurture their development. Diane gave great energy to promoting Canadian choral composers, and left a prolific commissioning legacy. This work was further enabled through the dissemination of these works through her dynamic touring, broadcasting and recording practice, as well as establishing, with her husband Dick, Cypress Choral Music, a publisher of Canadian choral music. A great supporter of arts organizations, most recently, Diane served as Vice-President for Advocacy from 2008-2012 on the board of the Association of Canadian Choral Communities. In 1993, she was a key organizer of IFCM’s 3rd World Symposium on Choral Music. She was also a sustaining member of Chorus America, providing the organization with additional support beyond her membership dues.

As a conductor, Diane’s instinct and philosophy was informed by her core belief in the person and in community, and the power of choral music to inform and enrich life. An impeccable musician, her work was also infused with empathic connection to her singers, the music and her audiences. In a recent national radio interview, in speaking about the sound of her men’s choir Chor Leoni, she witnessed this belief: “It’s sensual, it’s human, it can be brilliantly heroic and achingly tender... [it] can envelop and cradle listeners in a visceral way.”

Diane Loomer was a member of the Order of Canada, the nation’s highest civilian honour. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of British Columbia in 2011. However, for all those who had the privilege to know her, she will principally be remembered for her delight in life and the caring warmth and inspired gift which she so generously shared throughout her stellar career.

Condolences may be posted on www.chorleoni.org.

Another loss to the choral world--Diane Loomer

Diane was, quite simply, a marvelous musician and human being. I can't say I knew her extraordinarily well, but had enough opportunities to be around her, talk with her, and hear examples of her work, dating back to 1990, to know what a special person and artist she was. Here a short obit from the Vancouver Sun--there will be more in the next few days from many sources, I know. A sad day for all of us in the choral world.

Famed Vancouver choir founder Diane Loomer dies at 72

Diane Loomer, the founder and artistic director of famed Vancouver men's choir Chor Leoni, has died.

A notice on the choir's web site says Loomer, who died Monday, left a legacy that is "alive in the many works of Canadian composers and arrangers she championed, the artists and conductors she mentored, the singers she led in workshops, rehearsals, and performances around the world, and in the hearts of every past and present member of Chor Leoni."

The notice added: "Our thoughts are with her husband Dick and her family at this sad time and we request that you respect the privacy of the family."

Born in Minnesota in 1940, Loomer was also co-founder and conductor emerita of Elektra Women's Choir, a member of the Order of Canada and a YWCA Vancouver Woman of Distinction in Arts and Culture.

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra conductor Bramwell Tovey once said of Loomer: " Under Diane Loomer's direction, Chor Leoni has a polish, a sound, a spontaneity and a style that I feel is unequalled by any male voice choir that I have ever heard - and that includes the best on offer at the Eistedfodd in Wales."

Excerpts from University Singers concert on YouTube

The University of North Texas University Singers had a concert recently and the following excerpts are now on YouTube: 
Bruckner motets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI_p-0EBOa8
Britten Festival Te Deum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDdJFW9DOHg
Peter Hallock - Song of Moses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm8gwrpm1_E
Rosas Pandan with Pei-Chi Lin conducting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwCfy78coK0
Trent Worthington Alberta Cowboy Songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4F0Q_oroBI

We're very lucky at UNT to have support for live streaming of concerts and to be able to convert that video to YouTube clips. Huge thanks to Blair Liikala for all his work on this!

Younger and younger orchestral conductors

Norman Lebrecht writes about the younger generation of conductors who increasingly are getting major posts here.

It's an interesting trend. I've written about a few as well: 3 posts on Gustavo Dudamel when in Sweden, several posts on Yannick Nezet-Seguin, some on Daniel Harding, and several on the young Dutch choral conductor Peter Dijkstra.