COUNCIL TALK 02/2021 - The digital magazine of the World Choir Council

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WHAT THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC EXPOSED AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT Food for thought on the lessons of our time of crisis by Tim Sharp What have we learned in the pandemic? How could we improve our work and our efforts to become better conductors and teachers? Tim Sharp, World Choir Council representative USA, presents some thoughts and what he has learned from the crisis over the past months. SELF-DISCIPLINE AND ROUTINE The restrictions on our daily and public lives in recent months have caused us to lose our selfdiscipline and routine. This affects not only our work but also our social life. Even if we had much more time on hand – we did not go anywhere, neither to the cinema nor to the restaurant – the extra time was not really used. There was a lot of lamentation about people missing singing, missing music, but each of us would have had the opportunity, and especially the time, to sing. However, the pandemic has made it clear that it is not about singing per se, but above all about the community and the joy of singing with others. AUTONOMY WITHIN COMMUNITY Choir conductors have to learn to translate autonomy within community. All too often, we rely on the alpha singers, the better singers, in rehearsals and in our work. This affects not only the choir conductor but also the fellow singers who depend and lean on them. That‘s a good thing and we use those people, those little cells, to build others up and to strengthen the group. But when that is taken out of the mix, it leads to a failure of the others. So, more effort should be put into self-reliance within the community. As choir conductors, we tried to keep the singers in a routine with singing exercises, but it didn‘t work. The topics of self-discipline and autonomous learning have taken on a whole new significance in recent times. It has become clear that, as a choir director, you have to work harder to teach the singers a certain autonomy so that, should they find themselves on their own again, they can maintain a routine. Here, for example, it is a good idea to rehearse a warm-up routine with the singers, which they can also perform independently outside the choir and before the start of choir rehearsals at home. 8
„My life flows on in endless song; Above earth’s lamentation, I hear the sweet, tho’ far-off hymn That hails a new creation; Thro’ all the tumult and the strife I hear the music ringing; It finds an echo in my soul – How can I keep from singing?” Robert Lowry PERFORMANCE MOTIVATES If there was ever any doubt about it, the pandemic has clearly shown it: Performances motivate! Losing concerts took away the motivation for many to show up at all, to do the work, to give their personal best. There was no perspective and no goal. As a result, many singers gave up. Even if performances were made possible in virtual space, this could not fully replace the special feeling of the stage and achievement. One lesson to be learned: You have to think about a plan B. Performances were a great motivator, but we lost it – and this affects not only the singers of the choir but also other stakeholders and funding sources. Tim Sharp is an active choral conductor, researcher, and writer, who has varied his career with executive positions in higher education, recording and publishing. For many years he was the Executive Director of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) representing choral activity in the United States to the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM). Prior to his leadership of ACDA, Sharp was Dean of Fine Arts at Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, and earlier, Director of Choral Activities at Belmont University, Nashville, TN. He has conducted university, community, church and children‘s choirs, and continues to serve as choral conductor and clinician in the United States and internationally. SCALABILITY HAS DICTATED METHODOLOGY The methodology of choral work is based on conductors standing on a podium and giving instructions to a large group. This was taken away from us. Out of the new situation has come a huge need for individualized learning. Most choir directors had to work on going beyond the alpha students. We had to dig deep into our students‘ lives to get them involved and motivated. Although choir rehearsals will return to this greater scalability of dictating and shouting out commands to the larger group, choir conductors are left with the valuable experience of the last months. We can continue to benefit from the individualized approach to each singer and the newfound skills in individualized teaching, even after the crisis, to focus on students who are sometimes difficult to reach. PODIUM SYNDROME In this time of crisis, we also had to face the question, who are we doing all this for? For the singers we are teaching or for us? The pandemic has revealed what I call „Podium Syndrome.“ It was a narcissistic year in which it became clear for whom it was about the singers and students and for whom it was about themselves. The motivations of conductors were exposed this year, and we need to strongly evaluate what it is we are called to do as conductors and teachers. 9
Page 1 and 2: ISSUE 2/2021 Magazine COUNCIL TALK
Page 3 and 4: GREETING Dear colleagues, dear frie
Page 5 and 6: https://interkultur.tv/a-proactive-
Page 7: EVENTS 2022 01 04 04 04 05 07 08 09
Page 11 and 12: EVALUATION: WHAT ARE THE CONCLUSION
Page 13 and 14: EVENTS & PROJECTS 2021/2022 WCC MAG
Page 15 and 16: THE WORK IS STRUCTURED AS FOLLOWS:
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