Monday, December 26, 2005

Lambuth Choir CD!

Hey gang,

Good news - we have approval to have a CD of the choirs professionally produced! I'm in the midst of acquiring mechanical license rights for the copyrighted songs and getting initial tracks together. We'll be selling them for $15 each. I picked the title "Raise the Lamp" from the Lambuth alma mater; that line refers to the lamp of knowledge, a symbol of academia that's found on the university seal. (I'd been toying with "Will Sing for Potluck" as a title but didn't think that would fly with the administration.) The front of the CD cover will look something like the image here.

The school is floating our choir budget a loan for the production costs, which we'll repay from sales income. If every choir members sells 3 (actually about 2.56, but it's hard to sell 56% of a CD!), the project will be paid for. All sales beyond that will be profit going to the choir. Once you sell your three, you'll receive a free CD with accompanying promotional poster.

We'll need to do some more recording next week to make sure we have really good takes of everything. Once we submit the final master to the company, turnaround is only 7-10 days, so we should be able to release the CD by the end of January.

Sunday, December 25, 2005

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Quote from Emerson

Hi all,

I was surfing the Web this holiday and came across a nice quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Though we travel the world to find the beautiful,
We must carry it with us or we find it not."

Applies to singing, doesn't it?

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving! - RCB

Saturday, November 19, 2005

What you have accomplished

Hi all,

I’ve been spending a good part of the weekend separating and editing tracks from our Thursday night concert, and several times I’ve had to quit working and just stop to listen...IN AWE of what you have accomplished this semester.

Folks, you have a sound that isn’t often heard in large music departments at major universities...and it’s almost never found at a college of only 800 students. And the difficulty of the literature, all memorized, and performed on tour 3 months ahead of other university choirs! I am SO PROUD of what you’ve achieved, and honored to have been a part of your music-making. The buzz is all over town! Lambuth faculty, high school students and directors, community big-wigs–all of them are hearing that the Lambuth choirs are THE THING to hear in West Tennessee!

I was thrilled with how many faculty came to our concert. Carrie Prewitt was blown away! Dr. Gene Davenport has taught at Lambuth since 1963, and he told me that this year’s choirs are BY FAR the best that Lambuth has had since he came here! Here’s what Derek Jones has to say:
I just wanted to say to everyone involved in last night's choral concert...OUTSTANDING JOB!!!! In my opinion, that was the best concert on this campus (instrumental or choral) in my six years here at Lambuth. The intonation, dynamics, and overall level of musicality was superb!

You are all to be commended for your hard work and dedication to the cause of the fine arts. Thank you for an absolutely wonderful evening!
You deserve all the words of praise we can muster! Accolades aren’t the only reason we work so hard, though. When we as a choir are truly are “together” (the literal meaning of “ensemble”), we get a glimpse into a Power greater than ourselves that connects all of us together and helps us understand one another on a deeper level. Many people go their whole lives and never find that connection. We have the opportunity to experience that time and time again, whenever we come together to sing, no matter if we have an audience or if we’re singing just for each other. I get SO MUCH from my connection with you...mentally, musically, and spiritually. And I’ll always work to have you get back as much or more from me.

If you’re interested in hearing some of the concert, RIGHT CLICK on the links below and save them to your computer. We’ll be making CDs for everyone, but I know you might be anxious to hear some of it. So here ya go!

A Boy and a Girl
Barbershop
Muie Rendera
Loch Lomond
The Awakening
Sing Unto God

Between Thursday night, Lakeland, and DeSoto, I think we have a really good take of everything on the program. We might do an extra take of a handful of things when we get back from Thanksgiving. We’ll also be learning a new Christmas piece or two for Candlelight, in addition to the pieces from our tour program that will be included (Hodie nobis de caelo, Sing Unto God/Lauda Sion, Magnificat/Nunc Dimittis, maybe 1 or 2 more).

Have a well-deserved Thanksgiving break! See you when we get back!

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Kristen Ayers - flute part

Kristen,

You can get the flute part through this link:

http://lambuthmusic.rossbernhardt.com/thyme-flute.pdf


Directions to First United Methodist downtown

Hi all,

Reminder - rehearsal tomorrow (Thurs. Nov. 10) is at First United Methodist Church downtown. We'll be in Clayton Hall, which is the fellowship hall in the newer part of the church. I'd suggest that you carpool with buddies rather than everyone driving separately, since parking might be limited Thursday and definitely will be on Friday.

Directions to First UMC:

Go SOUTH (turn RIGHT if you're coming from campus) on Lambuth Blvd.
until it dead-ends at Airways
Turn LEFT on Airways
Airways curves to the right and becomes Main St.
Go past courthouse and turn RIGHT on Church St.
Turn LEFT on Baltimore - this street runs between St. Luke's Episcopal and First UMC
First UMC is on the right - just past the church is the parking lot (east side of church)
Park and come inside!

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Concert Choir sings for chapel today (11/1/05)

Happy All-Saints Day!

Reminder - Concert Choir sings in chapel today (Nov. 1) at 1:00. Wear "dressy school clothes" - guys wear shirt and tie, gals wear skirt/dress/slacks and blouse, no blue jeans. We'll be singing "Sing Unto God". Meet in the choir room at 12:50. See you this afternoon! - RCB

Sunday, October 30, 2005

The ideal university choir

In a nutshell, this is what I was talking about in Thursday’s rehearsal - my view of the ideal university choral rehearsal environment.

1. The atmosphere is relaxed but energized, with energy focused on the music.

2. Any talking in rehearsal is fleeting and non-distracting to the conductor, fellow singers, and/or themselves, so nothing ever needs to be said about it.

3. Nothing is ever said about posture or breath energy, because the singers have good singing habits so ingrained into their system that they occur without conscious effort.

4. The singers are able to “multitask”, maintaining focus and concentration on more than one aspect of rehearsal at a time.

5. Nothing is ever said about absence or tardiness, except to worry about the missing singer, since absence is so rare that it makes the choir afraid something bad has happened to them.

6. Motivation is internal, coming from the singer’s love of music and the desire to make the best musical performance they can achieve.

7. There is a sense of common goals, and the knowledge of what needs to happen in rehearsal to achieve those goals. The singers take on more responsibility for their share of the music-making. The conductor is not a dictator but a facilitator, working with the singers as fellow adults on a shared musical journey.

8. The conductor is thus free to deal with nothing in rehearsal besides making music. This in turn creates a more relaxed, open atmosphere that helps create tension-free but energized singing.

You have achieved SO MUCH this year, and you’ve realized most of these ideals already. But we can be more consistent with these, can’t we? And believe me, it’s MUCH more rewarding for both conductor and singers to work in an environment like this than in a high-school type environment where:
1. The atmosphere is rigid and controlled;
2. Behavior is strictly controlled by the conductor because the students can’t be trusted to control themselves;
3. Good singing habits need constant reinforcement;
4. Motivation is external, driven by awards, trophies, and/or fear of the teacher;
5. The conductor has to spend too much time dealing with peripheral issues and not on the music being sung.

The ideals listed above are what need to occur consistently if we’re going to produce what I know we can produce–the best choir in Lambuth’s history, one that will literally blow your audiences away and take them (and you) to a higher plane of musical experience. Let’s do it!

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

WOW...electric performance!

Hey gang,

I have heard SO MANY people say they were blown away by your performance Friday night! Thanks so much for sitting through all the speeches--yes, they were supposed to be shorter, but looks like only Huneycutt followed instructions! You were very poised and professional through the whole evening, and really impressed a group of people who are exactly the right ones to impress. Maybe someone will be inspired to give money to the music department...

Your tour is going to be phenomenal! Looking forward to making more music with you!

RCB

Monday, October 17, 2005

Tour itinerary

Hi all,

I still have a few things to work out on our fall itinerary, but it's 95% complete. If you'd like to look at it, click HERE.

Dr. B

Friday, October 14, 2005

Nice picture of Elise on the Lambuth web site


Hi all, I hadn't been on the official Lambuth web site in a while, logged on this evening and saw that they're using a photo taken of Elise Lobo in their opening screens. Here it is! Nice plug for us!

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Nunc dimittis study files - updated edition

Alto 2 Singers:

I made a transcription error in one measure of your part when I was creating the MIDI study files. The corrected files are now on the website. Sorry! Hope this didn't cause you too much grief in working on your part!

RCB

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Off-campus recital options

Hi music majors,

I just added another off-campus recital option to the online calendar. The Jackson Symphony Youth Orchestra is performing Oct.11 and it's FREE! Dr. Weimer's wife conducts the group, so it's a good opportunity to brown-nose your professor! :)

There are a couple of recitals in Nashville that I added to the calendar as well, and flyers for them are also tacked to the chapel bulletin board. I encourage all of you to get at least one off-campus recital out of the way early before we get into the busier season in November and December, when we have tour, Candlelight, fall concerts, and final projects/exams to deal with.

Friday, September 30, 2005

mywebalarm.com - tried it, works great!

Hello students,

I tried one of the free wake-up call services and it works great! You have to set each alarm time separately on this service (no repeating times) but it did successfully call my office phone and cell phone. Those of you who aren't morning people might find this useful!

It's at www.mywebalarm.com. Try it out!

Dr. B

No choir or Singers performance Sat. Oct. 1

Hi Singers,

We didn't have a balanced enough group to be able to sing for Parent's Weekend, so Melanie Overton decided to have Pres. Zuker speak during that 6:30 time. Thanks to those of you who volunteered, though!

RCB

Monday, September 26, 2005

Blog spam

Hi all,

Our blog is starting to get some spam entries on the comments. So far it hasn't been very much so I'll delete them by hand. If you see anything that looks like an advertisement, it's not from me! If we start to get flooded with spam I'll turn on word verification (makes you input a code word in order to post comments).

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Facebook

Hey everybody,

I checked out Facebook and it looks really cool. Christie Terreson has set up a Lambuth choir group on there, you should check it out - www.facebook.com.

Great job singers!

Hey Lambuth Singers,

Thanks SO MUCH for great performances this weekend! The high school students really enjoyed your singing on Saturday...hopefully we'll get some prospective students from it. And what great PR for Lambuth and our music program this morning! Some of the best AM performing I've heard in my 11 years here!

See you tomorrow! - RCB

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Upcoming performance reminders

Hi Lambuth Singers,

Just a recap of upcoming gigs:

Saturday, Sept. 24:
Meet in the band room at 11:30 - perform for All-Northwest audition workshop
Travel to Memphis - perform at 2:30 for All-Southwest audition workshop, St. Luke's UMC
Attire: Lambuth shirt (music or other) and khakis

Sunday, Sept. 25:
Meet at 10:00 a.m., First UMC Jackson choir room
Sing for 10:50 a.m. worship service
Attire: Dressy church clothes

See you at rehearsal this afternoon!

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Irish Blessing tests

Hi gang,

Reminder - Irish Blessing tests are this week! I stated Sept. 15 as the beginning date, but since my class schedule is light on Tuesdays, I put up a schedule on the office door for Tuesday the 13th as well. If any of you are ready (particularly choir veterans) and want to get it out of the way on Tuesday, that would be great. You can sign up 2 people for each time slot. See you at school! - RCB

Monday, September 05, 2005

Hurricanes and communities

Hi folks,

I watched Dateline NBC this evening and the reports of how the people of New Orleans (those who end up returning there, anyway) will struggle for months, even years, to rebuild their community. But what constitutes a community? Is it a geographic area? A certain demographic of the population?

One of the things I really believe in is building "choral community". I have my thoughts on what that means, but would like to hear yours. What do you think constitutes a community? What makes an ensemble a community? What does it take to build a community?

Post comments as you feel inspired.....
RCB

Test submission for music technology

This is a test to show the Music Technology class how to create a blog post!

Unexcused absences

Hi folks,

In the second week of classes, I've already had 2-3 students with unexcused absences in Lambuth Singers and voice lessons. I am speaking with them individually and wanted to communicate to you as a group that this is really unacceptable. Short of being unconscious or another life-threatening emergency, there is NO REASON why you cannot call me beforehand! Remember that each unexcused absence lowers your grade one letter in that class.

In the case of Lambuth Singers, remember that there are several good people who didn't get selected. Your attendance is VITAL to the success of the group! A person with continued unexcused absences will lose their spot in the ensemble.

And thank you very much to the vast majority of you who have attended consistently and have contacted me regarding illnesses or other absence-related issues!

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Voice seminar Thursday

Hi gang,

Sorry I had to miss class today (Wednesday). I had a stomach bug that wouldn't let me venture far from home. :) I'm feeling better now (must have been something I ate!) so will be back in full force on Thursday.

Mrs. Prewitt's grandmother has died, and since I'll be at a faculty meeting at 1:00, we won't have our first voice seminar this Thursday. We'll convene next week. My choirs and lessons WILL meet tomorrow, however.

See you tomorrow!
RCB

Monday, August 29, 2005

Still need some info forms

Hey Concert Choir,

I still need information forms from some of you. Very important that I get these ASAP! Bring them by my office, or to choir rehearsal tomorrow. Thanks! - RCB

Friday, August 26, 2005

Correction to recital calendar

I made an error when I wrote the dates of the student recitals on the board yesterday. The first student recital is NOT Oct. 20, but the following week, Oct. 27, at 1:00 p.m. in the Chapel sanctuary. The second recital is on Dec. 1 as stated. Sorry for the goof!

Info for applied voice students

Hi voice students (both Bernhardt and Prewitt),

1) Reminder about the voice seminar we will be having on Thursdays at 1:00. This is an opportunity for you to perform for each other, talk about concert etiquette, vocal health, and other topics of importance to the singer.

2) If you don't already have one, we'd like you to get a USB flash drive or an MP3 player (iPod, etc.) that is connectable to the computer. Both teachers will be recording your lessons on the computer and dumping the recording to your device so you can listen to your lessons. The bookstore has flash drives - each lesson will take about 30 MB of space, so you don't need to get a huge one if you don't want.

3) Please bring whatever solo voice books (if any) you've used in lessons before. We may have you purchase additional books as well.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Music majors meeting Thursday 1 p.m.

Hello music majors,

We're going to have a meeting of music majors tomorrow (Thursday) at 1:00 p.m. in the choir room. That's during the time we usually have faculty meetings so none of you should have classes.

We're also going to use the Thursday 1 p.m. time for all voice students as a voice seminar/sing for each other time, as a part of your applied voice course requirement. This is standard practice at most schools of music and allows you to get some additional performance experience, work on stage etiquette, and learn from each other's singing. Mrs. Prewitt and I will be leading the seminar together. We'll meet in the sanctuary each week (except for this one, which is the music major meeting).

See you later!
RCB

Congrats to the 2005-06 Lambuth Singers!

ACCOMPANIST
Lauren Fruga

SOPRANO
Kendal Campbell
Catherine Childs
Erica Gladney
Rebecca Johnson
Elise Lobo
Shawna Mann
Christie Terreson

ALTO
Lori Autry
Jessica Bivens
Arlene Engels
Ariel Hall
Caroline Hamilton
Crissy Hetzler

TENOR
Matthew Collins
Logan Criswell
Ben Miller
Will Parrish
Randy Watson

BASS
Steven Albart
Adam Johnson
Drew Jones
Reed Rossetti
John Wallace
John Wells

Many thanks to those of you who auditioned for Lambuth Singers. The decision was EXTREMELY difficult; all of you are wonderful singers and capable of doing a great job in the group, but its identity as a chamber ensemble requires that I keep at the optinum number of 24. We will have several members graduating at the end of this year, so I anticipate more openings next year.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Lambuth Singers list will be up in the morning

Hey folks,

Thanks to all of you who auditioned for Lambuth Singers. You were all very good, and the decision is going to be EXTREMELY difficult.

I have had some family commitments come up this evening that will delay my deliberations a bit, so I will post the list here on the blog and on the dept. bulletin board when I get to work in the morning. We will have our first rehearsal with new and returning Singers tomorrow afternoon at 3:30. See you!

RCB

WOW!

Hey gang,

WOW just about says it all! I'm thrilled to death to have virtually everyone back from last year, plus a big crop of great new people. And the sound you are already making shows me that this is going to be an INCREDIBLE year!

In all the excitement I neglected to ask you to turn in the information forms you filled out. If you didn't leave it with me, could I get you to run yours by during the day tomorrow? It will really help me get divisi sorted out for the SSAATTBB stuff we're doing, which we need to begin on Thursday once we get the piece for opening convocation put together. If I'm not in, just leave it on the choir room piano or slide it under my office door. Thanks a bunch! See you Thursday! - Dr. B

Appropriate cartoon from this morning's paper. Enjoy! Posted by Picasa

Saturday, August 20, 2005

Your first assignment!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to our outstanding class of new recruits! And welcome back to our returning veterans!

This is going to be a really exciting year - this group has the potential to be the best choir Lambuth has ever had! We only lost a handful of people through graduation and attrition, so we have a good core of experienced singers, and gained a large and very talented group of incoming "rookies".

Your first assignment as a member of the choir (both new and returning singers) is to click on the comments link at the bottom of this post and say hello to everyone. Tell everybody where you're from, what your major is, and anything else interesting about yourself you'd like to add. Two requirements--include your name, and keep your post clean! (Jared Canada's mom and dad have been known to read this blog from time to time....)

I can't wait to hear you all sing!

Friday, August 12, 2005

Fall tour program - final version

I have the fall tour program planned out in final form. Click HERE to pull up a PDF.

In the middle of the program will be small ensemble pieces (vocal jazz, a cappella doo-wop, etc.) to be determined based on interest.

See you soon!
RCB

Friday, July 29, 2005

Sept. 18 - Lambuth Day in Methodist churches

Hey gang,

On Sunday, Sept. 18, the churches of the Memphis Conference are celebrating Lambuth Day - PR effort of the school to further connections with the United Methodist churches. I was asked to see if we could provide an ensemble or ensembles to one or more churches for that Sunday morning. I know a lot of you already have positions in area churches so I don't like to take the choirs out on Sunday mornings more than once a semester--sort of defeats the church PR purpose if you're taking musicians out of several churches all the time to sing at one church. And we're already going out on Nov. 13 for choir tour (probably a St. Louis "megachurch").

However, I think we could put together some small ad hoc ensembles to do this, particularly since we're going to do some small ensemble stuff on the fall tour program anyway. Those of you already working in area Methodist churches could stay where you are, and we could add folks to you. I think I know the churches where most of you are working, but if you could drop me a note to remind me, that would help us in planning--this Sunday is only 3 weeks or so into the semester.

Please pass this on to your choir friends if you hear from them. I'll send out a mass e-mail to everyone too. Thanks!
RCB

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Occupational hazards of the musician

Hi all,

Interesting story from Yahoo News:
BRIDGETON, N.J. - A teenage pianist has sued a music teacher, claiming the woman confronted him on stage during a Carnegie Hall performance and slammed a piano keyboard cover on his fingers after they argued over what piece he would perform at the event.
Moral of the story: don't make Dr. Huneycutt mad! :)

You can read the whole story by clicking the link below:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050728/ap_on_fe_st/pianist_lawsuit

Saturday, July 23, 2005


Was cleaning out the attic for our garage sale and came across this picture of the band I played in when I was in high school. Thought you might get a kick out of the hair! Posted by Picasa

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Numbers update

I went by the Registrar's Office today and had them look up class enrollment for Concert Choir. We have 55 pre-registered already! There are some that I know haven't registered yet, so we should hit the 60 mark pretty easily.

RCB

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Our numbers are growing!

Howdy,

I was talking with Rich Mullin (VP for Enrollment) during our latest SOAR session this past week, and he told me that for this fall, in terms of number of students majoring, music is the second or third largest major on campus! I'm stunned but thrilled...there were only about 4 majors when I came here 10 years ago!

Concert Choir pre-enrollment is already more than we had in the ensemble last year, and the second SOAR session and fall registration will add a bunch too. Looks like we have 7-8 new tenors coming in, 5+ basses, and scads of really good sopranos and altos. Our total choir enrollment should hopefully be back around 60, where it has traditionally been. Instrumental additions look healthy as well. There are always people that "slip through the cracks" and arrive on campus in the fall without us knowing they have music experience. If you all could keep your eyes and ears open when the freshmen get here, I think we could pick up a few more.

I have our fall tour program MOSTLY planned out. It's a "psalms, canticles, and sonnets" theme with lots of variety. We'll be doing some Brazilian pieces, Stanford "Beati Quorum Via", Mathias "Let the People Praise Thee, O God" (big piece with organ, written for the wedding of Charles and Diana), etc. etc. I want the middle of the program to be small-ensemble (4-8 singers) stuff - a cappella doo-wop, vocal jazz, perhaps a barbershop number. I'll wait to plan that portion out until I get a feel for our incoming student interest, experience, and skill in these various genre.

See you later!
RCB

Monday, July 18, 2005

Click the arrow below to play - new audio post feature

this is an audio post - click to play

"Are We Together?" - thoughts from Oregon Bach Festival

Hi gang,

I just returned a few days ago from 3 weeks performing with the choir of the Oregon Bach Festival, held on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene. I had intended to post regularly during the festival to give you an ongoing view into the professional music world. However, the rehearsal and performing schedule ended up being so intense that I barely had time to check my e-mail! But now that I’m back, I’d like to share some of my festival experiences with you here.

This festival is ranked as the top summer classical music festival in the United States. Each summer 50 professional singers and an outstanding group of professional instrumentalists from all over the world are hired to perform major choral and orchestral works by Bach, Mozart, and other great classical composers. The artistic director is Helmuth Rilling, head of the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart, Germany, and the world’s leading authority on the choral music of J.S. Bach. The OBF choir received a Grammy a few years ago for the premiere of Penderecki’s Credo.

This summer’s schedule was rather brutal. For the first 5 days, we had 7½ hours of rehearsal per day–three 2½ hour sessions in the morning, afternoon, and evening–with barely enough time to eat. The first week was really tiring, but the schedule slacked off a bit towards the end. We performed an ENORMOUS amount of music! We performed three major works (1½ hours each)–Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s L’Allegro, and a Mendelssohn opera called Der Onkel aus Boston (“The Uncle from Boston”). That was the first time the Mendelssohn has been performed in North America, and we were only the second group to perform it since Mendelssohn wrote it in 1824, when he was only 14 years old. In addition, we performed six Bach cantatas (each about a half hour long) for a lecture-recital series led by Rilling and a conducting master class.

Helmuth Rilling is simply an amazing musician! When he rehearses, he only looks at his score to be able to give starting measure numbers. In performance, he conducts completely from memory. He had every player’s melodic line, articulation, and chord structure memorized for the ENTIRE vocal and instrumental ensemble! Yet he is a very humble, kind, and gentle man–going against the common notion that you have to be arrogant and condescending if you want to stay at the top of the musical ladder.

I can’t stress enough how important sightreading skills are in the professional life of a musician. To be able to sing that much music in 3 weeks, your skills have to be really sharp or you won’t keep up. The people with whom I perform have amazing musical skills and fantastic voices. To give you an example of the skill, click on the link below and listen to a recording session by the women of the OBF choir.

DREAMLAND - composed by Debra Sowerwine

The recording is of the second read-through of the piece! (It was written by a choir member in memory of another member who died of cancer this spring. Our women are going to do this piece this fall on our tour program.)

I went to a patron fundraising dinner at which they raised $77,000 for the Youth Choral Academy (high school choir camp associated with OBF). The theme of the fundraiser was “Are We Together?”–or as Helmuth would say, “Are vee togezer?” He spoke at length about how, even though the whole choir and orchestra knows the music at the first rehearsal, we still spend a lot of rehearsal time because we need to learn how to work together to pull off a good performance.

“Are We Together?” is going to be the theme for our choral year at Lambuth as well. We have a wonderfully large number of new students entering our program this fall, and they will need to learn how to fit their voices with the veterans and adjust to my style of conducting and teaching. And you veterans will need to rediscover how to sing with each other!

Being “together” implies more than just vocal technique. One of the things I noticed when the Alma College choir performed here was that they projected a sense of common purpose and goal. I think that we lose sight of that sometimes, and I want us all to work hard to keep that in the forefront all through the year. We need to make everything we do in our rehearsal time be focused towards the betterment of the ensemble.

I’m really pumped about this year! We didn’t graduate many people, and we have a large group of outstanding freshmen and transfers joining us. I have most of the fall tour program planned out (I’ll post a tentative program here soon), and I’m starting to work on concert venues. Block off November 11 through 15 on your calendar (Friday through Tuesday) for the tour. We’ll be going up to St. Louis, other parts of Missouri and Illinois, and back down to west Tennessee.

Stay well and keep your voices healthy! Chime in here and let me know what you all are up to this summer. See you soon!
RCB

Monday, July 04, 2005

Overload fee update

Hi all,

I talked with Drs. Huneycutt and Weimer to see what they had heard and, according to the information given out at the first SOAR, applied music is not going to be charged overload fees. The catalog already states that ensembles like band and choir are exempt from overload fees, and I think I can take care of the brass ensemble issue Jack brought up. I'll keep you updated as soon as I hear anything more, but it looks like we're OK. What a relief! I had a GREAT letter all drafted out and ready to forward to the administration, so I'm glad I probably won't have to use it.

I agree with Jared - it would not only be a major drain on the ensembles, but would really decimate them. We depend so much on the non-majors in our ensembles, as well as those music majors (virtually all of you!) who are in multiple ensembles, particularly those who are both vocal and instrumental musicians. I'd hate to see any student have to choose between them, since participating in both is SO valuable for your education. I'm a much better singer and conductor than I would be if I hadn't also had a good instrumental education.

I hope you know how much I and the other music faculty value and appreciate your contributions to our department. We are here to be your advocates, so if any issues like this concern you in the future, please don't hesitate to let us know so we can put our collective heads together to figure out solutions that will help you. That's why we're here!

I just got back from performing in the North American premiere of a Mendelssohn comic opera, "Der Onkel aus Boston" (the uncle from Boston). It's only the second time it's been performed since 1824, when the composer was only 14 years old! I'm having a great experience performing with the Oregon Bach Festival. I'm drafting a lengthy post on my experience here which will be loaded ASAP. The weather here is GORGEOUS - nice cool evenings, only in the 80s during the day!

Happy 4th!
Dr. B

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Overload fee policy

Hi all,

I saw your comments regarding the change in overload fee policy for ensembles and, believe me, I'm just as concerned about it as you are. I had heard that the administration was considering this, but hadn't heard anything firm. I fear that it will have a severely negative impact on enrollment in ensembles, particularly by non-majors.

I called the Dean's office this afternoon but found she was on vacation. I'll call the President's office on Monday to find out what the official word is and will let you know what I find out. If this is really what's planned, I will be pushing HARD to have this overturned.

I'm having a wonderful time performing at the Oregon Bach Festival. I'll submit another post this weekend to tell you about it. I'm finalizing repertoire for our fall tour program and am really excited about the fall!

Dr. B

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

The dangers of blogging.....

Interesting article on Yahoo! News this afternoon about the dangers of blogging in the workplace:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/warningyourcleverlittleblogcouldgetyoufired

Take care!
Dr. B

Sunday, June 12, 2005

CDs in the mail!

The tour CDs are done! I've mailed off about half of them this weekend and will package the rest for mailing Monday and Tuesday.

Monday, May 30, 2005

CDs coming soon!

Hi Lambuth Singers,

The recordings from our concert tour came out well. I've had problems with the CD burners in our computer lab freezing up in the middle of burning...I think they're starting to show their age. I have my laptop back from the Computer Center now, so will be able to resume burning tomorrow. I should be able to mail out CDs by the end of the week. The jazz combo will be burned on a second CD which I'll send later in the summer--they wouldn't all fit on one CD with the choral stuff.

Hope everyone's summer is going well. I'm getting ready to go to the Oregon Bach Festival in 3 weeks. I'm taking Amtrak out, going from Memphis to Chicago, then across the Northwest to Oregon. Should be a fun trip!

Cheers,
RCB

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Hostile birds in Houston, TX

Howdy!

It's a good thing we're not still in downtown Houston - click on the link below for a story on Yahoo News about attack of the killer grackles!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/attacking_grackles

Cheers,
RCB

Friday, May 13, 2005

TMEA photo


Jayme Holloway sent me this photo that she took at the TMEA exhibit booth. Enjoy!

Thursday, May 12, 2005

CDs of Texas tour

Hi all,

Catherine Childs posted a comment to ask about CDs of the Texas tour. I have a good portion of the recording session and concerts edited and should have it done by the end of the weekend. I'll send each of you a CD and should have them in the mail by the middle of next week.

Catherine, could you e-mail the group photos from Houston to me? I'll put one of them on the CD cover. The clearance rack at Wal-Mart this week had case insert paper for next to nothing, so I'll be able to design a cool jacket for it.

New singers for the fall

Hi gang,

I was up at Dyersburg High School today for their scholarship awards ceremony. We have four men coming to Lambuth this fall from the Dyersburg choral program -- two All-State tenors, an All-State baritone, and an All-West bass. They're excited about coming to Lambuth!

Also got an e-mail from Carol Culbreath, choir director at Whitehaven HS in Memphis. Her daughter Amy (2nd chair All-State alto!) has paid her deposit and will also be joining us this fall.

Several more people coming - I'll give you more details later. If my calculations are correct, we should have at least 50 singers in the choirs this fall!

Cheers!
RCB

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Thanks Lambuth Singers - keep in touch!

Hi everybody,

Singers - Thank you SO MUCH for a fabulous Texas tour! I was really pleased with your performances -- and even happier with your positive spirit, professionalism, and desire to succeed. Plus you're a fun bunch of folks to hang out with!

I sent out the ACDA Southern Division audition CD yesterday. We'll keep our fingers crossed for getting an invite to Charleston. I'll be sending out a TMEA audition CD later this week as well.

I'd love to hear from you over the summer. Post a comment on the blog and let all of us know what you're up to! I'll be posting news and thoughts from time to time. I'll hopefully be posting daily from the Oregon Bach Festival to give you my impressions -- although I can't get my laptop to start up, so I may be computerless! (It was plugged in to the cigarette lighter on the bus, so I'm hoping it's just a fried power adapter.)

Have a great summer - I'm looking forward to the fall!
RCB

Sunday, May 01, 2005

Thanks Concert Choir and 2005 grads!

Hey gang,

Great job at commencement today! I heard a lot of comments about how good you sounded.

Thanks for all your hard work this year. I've really enjoyed my time with you! And to our new alumni--thanks for all that you've done for our department over the past several years. You've added to our musical community here ENORMOUSLY, and we wish you all the best in your future achievements! (If you become rich and famous, give a couple of million to Lambuth, and we'll name the new music building after you....) :)

Everyone, check in on the blog from time to time and let me know what you're up to this summer--I'd love to hear from you. Have a great summer!

RCB

Monday, April 25, 2005

Lambuth Singers - rehearsal, tour update, dorm checkout

Hi Singers,

Rehearsal: Just a reminder that we will meet at 11:00 a.m. Thursday here in the Chapel to run through some things before going on tour. We shouldn't need to take long, provided you have everything memorized, and should be done by noon.

Tour: I've updated the tour itinerary to show some small changes to events on Tuesday and Wednesday. You can view it by clicking here. The Tuesday evening concert hasn't materialized; rather than try to schedule one at this late date, I'd like to schedule a late afternoon/early evening recording session in a church with a good acoustic, and then have the evening free. Jeanne Larson is checking on a good church for us, and hopefully she'll be able to get together with us that evening. On Wednesday we'll do the West End/Dealey Plaza sightseeing in the morning and sing at Hebron HS from 12:30-2:15 p.m. We'll be singing for their top choir of 30 singers, then they'll do their contest stuff for us, and I'll be working with them as well.

Dorm Checkout: For those of you wanting to wait until after tour to pack up your stuff to leave, Cameron Burton said just to be sure you have your stuff packed up and ready before you leave for tour; you'll then have until Sunday evening the 8th to empty the room and check out.

Times for baccalaureate and graduation

Quick reminder about Sunday, May 1:

Baccalaureate - Lambuth Singers - meet choir room 9:45 a.m., service starts at 10:00. Singing "I Sat Down Under His Shadow".

Graduation - Concert Choir - meet 12:45 p.m. either in gym or on Spangler steps, depending on weather. Ceremony begins at 1:00 p.m. Singing "Freedom Come".

Steven Whitson, Meghan Arnold, Dustin Walters: Thanks for all you've done for our department the past several years! I hope you'll be able to come to the Senior Breakfast on Saturday morning in Wisdom Parlor. I'm on the Social Committee that puts it on so will definitely be there to say howdy!

BRAVO!

Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for a wonderful Sunday evening of music!

Your performance last night was MARVELOUS! There were so many moments in the Faure where I was simply swept away in your musicality. The nuance and shape of your singing really captured the heart of the work. The First UMC choir was a great addition to your sound, but YOU led the way! Bravo also to the Lambuth Singers for a great performance of the Monteverdi Beatus Vir! That piece will just keep getting better and better as the week in Texas goes by.

You have really attracted attention from our administration and community this year, and I want to thank you for all your hard work in both semesters. You are rapidly becoming THE choral program of West Tennessee, and I'm really excited about our future together!

Best wishes for your final exams and projects. See you at baccalaureate and graduation!

RCB

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Game plan for dress rehearsal

Hi all,

If anybody sees this before this afternoon, here's the general game plan for everything.

  1. Rehearse Requiem (choirs only) starting at 3:00
  2. Orchestra joins us at 3:45
  3. First UMC choir - rehearse Leavitt Te Deum with brass
  4. Concert Choir - Freedom Come and South African
  5. Lambuth Singers - Monteverdi
We should be done by 4:45 or so.

After rehearsal, I'm going across the street to Dixie Castle to have steak for dinner if anyone wants to join me!

Fall choir retreat?

I've been thinking that it would be valuable to have a choir retreat sometime in September -- Friday night and Saturday. We could do something like reserve the group lodge at Chickasaw, or go someplace else interesting, and combine singing with fun group activities. It would help build team spirit and make some headway towards doing a memorized fall tour program.

Whaddya think?

RCB

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Another great audition day!

I had several more prospective students audition today and heard some really wonderful talent! Another All-State tenor from Dyersburg came -- he's already coming here on full-tuition academic, since his ACT is in the stratosphere. I also heard a transfer soprano from Dyersburg State who has one of the best soprano voices I've had audition here.

You veterans may remember going to Wilson Central HS on tour last year. Their director, Joe Bullock, came to our TMEA clinic last week, and today he came over and brought an All-State bass to audition, as well as his own daughter. (Three cheers to the Lambuth Singers -- you guys really impressed him at the clinic!) She's a great mezzo and is going to Austin Peay right now but is interested in coming here to focus on choral conducting and composing. Another nice All-West alto from White Station HS came as well.

We have a HUGE influx of men in the fall and a lot of good female voices as well. Our numbers should be up around 60 in the Concert Choir, if all of them come. Woohoo!!!

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Singers: Post-finals, pre-tour rehearsal

Hi Singers,

Since we're going to spend most of the time in rehearsal today getting ready for the performance this Sunday, we could really use another rehearsal to go over the rest of the tour program and make sure everything is fully and accurately memorized.

The last two exam blocks next Thursday (10:30-12:30 and 1:30-3:30) are the ones assigned to classes in our Concert Choir and Singers time slots. How about if we meet at 10:30 that morning (April 28)?

RCB

Monday, April 18, 2005

Music majors - end of year stuff

Reminders to all music majors:

  1. You are required to attend TWO off-campus recitals each semester. The penalties are severe! See the departmental web site for details. Bring me programs from your two recitals NO LATER than Thursday morning of finals week!
  2. Juries are Tuesday afternoon of finals week from 1 to 4 p.m. Signup sheet is posted on the chapel bulletin board. Please sign up for as early a time as possible!
  3. Our final studio recital of the year is this Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. If you are performing, be sure that you or your teacher let me know what you're performing so I can type the program.

Texas tour itinerary

Hey Singers,

Click the link below and you'll see the Texas tour itinerary as it currently stands. It's about 95% complete - just a couple of details here and there to iron out still.

The motel in Galveston is right on Seawall, a block from the beach.

Cheers!
Dr. B

Go to the Texas itinerary

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Music....a HARD major!

Christie Terreson posted a comment on the blog this afternoon which all of you (both majors and non-majors) should read. I've inserted the main points below:

"A few people said something to me this morning that really set me off and I feel compelled to write something on the blog about it. I was essentially told that being a music major is easy.

It really frustrates me that people view music as easy because it isn't. Not in the slightest. I would pay BIG money to see the girls who made the "music is easy" comment to me, sit through Theory or Musicianship Skills and UNDERSTAND the concepts or memorize the 8 page German Aria I have in voice."
AMEN, CHRISTIE!!! And I'd love to say that it gets better....but this is still one of the biggest frustrations I have as a professional musician. There is a perception (unfortunately fueled by the popular music industry) that music is just something you do if you have talent--it doesn't take any particular training, knowledge, or intellect. I can't tell you how many times I've had people calling up asking, "We've got a women's group meeting tomorrow night - do you have some students that could come over and sing for 45 minutes for us?" They have NO CLUE about how demanding music is!

Take music theory, for example. In most college courses, it's a given that only about 10% of material is retained after the class is over. Music theory, however, is cumulative. You have to retain ALL of it to be able to succeed in upper-level classes or in grad school. It impacts your success as a performer, conductor, and/or educator immensely.

Most majors have 3 or 4 hour credit courses, so a student can take 4-5 courses and have 15 hours in a semester. In music, however, most classes are 1-2 hours credit--and your music professors (who shall remain nameless....ha ha....) always tend to have more expectations than a 3-4 hour course in another major.

It's not just uneducated people that have this perception, either. I've had to battle perceptions here (with success, fortunately!) that ensembles at Lambuth are activities rather than academic classes. Hmm....let's see....required by the National Association of Schools of Music...studying vocal technique, music history, foreign language pronunciation, religion, poetry...sounds like academic content to me, how about you?

So, music majors, "fight the good fight, with all your might"!

Friday, April 15, 2005

Fantastic performance at TMEA!

Singers,

You all did a MARVELOUS job at the Tennessee Music Education Association conference! You sang well and for exactly the right people who need to hear you. I was really thrilled with your musicality, attention to detail, and poised professionalism.

You folks are really attracting a lot of attention from the choir directors in our state. I spoke to several directors after the clinic--not only are they impressed, but they are interested in sending more students to audition for us! Through all your hard work, you are making our program the premier college program in West Tennessee!

See you at 11 am at 1st UMC! (Blue shirts and khakis)
RCB

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Reminders about Thursday

Concert Choir: reminder that there will be NO rehearsal on Thursday.
Choral Methods also will not meet Thursday morning.

Lambuth Singers: we will meet at 1:00 to leave for Nashville. I could use 3-4 pairs of hands at 12:30 to pack up and carry the digital audio workstation from the computer lab and the stereo system from the choir room.

We have the clinic space an hour before the clinic at 4:00 to set up, warm up, etc. TMEA won't let us perform in the exhibit area during College Night at 4:30, but I hope to get set up in time for us to go down as a group to meet and greet the All-State choir students who come through. Our Admissions staff will be there as well. VP Mullin reserved the "primo" spot in the exhibit hall for our booth - it's the first one by the entrance as people come in.

Tips for viewing the website calendar

A couple of people have experienced difficulty in seeing the most recent update of the calendar on the departmental website. The website calendar is current, and I think that the problem probably stems from the stored history on your web browser.

When you use Internet Explorer or other browsers, the browser stores a temporary copy of the page on your computer, so if you go back to it, the recall time will be faster. However, if you don't set up your browser to access the web site directly, you'll keep pulling up the old version from your computer, rather than the newest version from the website. Thus you'll not be able to view the most recent calendar.

To solve the problem, click the Refresh or Reload button on your browser taskbar. If that doesn't work, go in the Tools menu, click under Internet Options, and clear out your history and cache of previously viewed websites. If you still have trouble, let me know!

Choral methods: helpful new library book

Elise and Rebecca,

I ordered a book for the library that is now cataloged and available for checkout:

Music performed at American Choral Directors Association conventions,
1960-2000 / compiled by Sandefur Schmidt.
Call Number: ML1500 .M87 2002

You might find this useful in doing your concert program assignment.

Monday, April 11, 2005

Calendar items for next year

Be sure to mark these dates on your calendar for fall:

Friday, Nov. 11 through Tuesday, Nov. 15 - FALL CHOIR TOUR
This pattern of days is different than what we've done in the past but is necessary to work around All-Southwest, All-Northwest, and Wesley's birthday. Right now I'm looking at singing in Memphis area Friday, going to St. Louis on the weekend for performing and fun, Missouri schools on Monday and West TN on Tuesday.

Thursday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m. - FALL CHOIR CONCERT - Chapel

Sunday, Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m. - Candlelight

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Lambuth Singers - Savannah reminder

Singers,

Remember that we're meeting this afternoon at 4:15 - I want to be able to leave at 4:16! Blue shirts and khakis. We will have to carpool, unfortunately--I'll have gas money for those of you who are driving. I'll have directions (trust me, these are really easy compared to Ripley!) and we'll caravan together to make sure no one is left behind. I'll give you the concert order when we get there. See you this afternoon!

RCB

Friday, April 08, 2005

Baseball and midget wrestling....

One more reason to keep minor league baseball here in Jackson....

Even if the team loses (close game, though....3-2), you get more Friday night entertainment by watching two small people named "P.O.D." and "The Toad" in the ring fake a wrestling match for hundreds of cheering fans. Kinda makes you....um.....proud??.... to be an American.....

yikes......

Lambuth was well represented (?!?) at the game, by the way. A large group of inebriated Kappa Sigma brethren heckled the opposing team and flipped the bird for the "fan cam" big screen.

Hope your Friday evening was entertaining!
Dr. B

Arts awards night Monday - RSVP required

IMPORTANT NOTICE!

The annual School of Arts & Communication awards night is being held at 5:30 p.m. Monday night at the Aeneas building behind the Designer Showhouse. All students are invited--especially graduating seniors, since I give the seniors a little something each year.


It's being professionally catered this time, so if you plan to attend, please RSVP TODAY to our school secretary, Hollie Wood, at 425-3205. Hope to see you there!

Monday, April 04, 2005

Expanding your listening horizons.....

Hello all,

I've been talking with some of you the past few days about iTunes and some of the other pay music services on the Web. In addition to these, there are a lot of radio stations streaming audio for free. I encourage you to check these out! Pull up something every day to listen to, even for a few minutes, some piece or category of music you're not familiar with.

There's a site called Classical Webcast that has links to a bunch of classical radio stations from around the world. One of my favorites is BBC Radio 3 from Britain. They archive their shows for a period of one week so you can stream on demand. Each week they broadcast a Choral Evensong service from one of the English cathedrals with great choral music. There are also shows with jazz, Celtic music, etc. BBC Radio has several different stations with varied music programming and great world news coverage.

Check it out - I think you'll enjoy!
RCB

Lambuth Singers Texas tour rep

Hi Singers,

I've created a PDF file of the tour repertoire order for our upcoming trip. Click the link below to look at it, and let me know what you think. Thanks! - RCB

Click here to pull up the tour rep PDF

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Bravo Steven!

Congratulations to Steven Whitson for a fabulous senior recital! Very musical, poised, and professional. And what a great audience! Maybe we should put him in charge of publicity for all our concerts? Thanks to Steven's mom for the great food at the reception too!

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Wonderful inaugural performances!

Hey everyone,

What a fantastic job you all did at the Inauguration ceremony this morning! You looked and sounded SO professional and polished...I heard numerous comments at the reception afterwards. And kudos also to Lambuth Singers for a great job at the earliest performance we've done in a while--and I hope it'll be a while before we sing that early again! I really appreciate the time and energy you all give to make our ensembles the best they can be.

And thanks to those of you who attended Il Quatro Professore Friday night! I was in better voice on Thursday before the weather changed for the worse Friday morning. The Brahms songs are hard on the voice and I was a little nervous about whether I'd have the high notes or not, but they came out OK and I got through it. Thanks for your support!

And what a great job the other faculty did! You know, it's quite common in university music departments to have faculty with inflated egos fighting with each other all the time. Life's too short to put up with that crap! I'm really blessed to work with colleagues who are not only world-class musicians but also great friends. It makes Lambuth a much better place to work, and I think you students benefit more from a friendly environment like ours.

The Jazz Band did a great job at the Designer Showhouse tonight too! I only wish it had been warmer outside and that you had more people come around to hear you. I was really pleased that President and Mrs. Zuker came over to listen to you.

See you at Steven's recital tomorrow afternoon! (Don't forget to "spring forward" your clocks - otherwise you'll get there after it's over!)

RCB

April Fools!


We had a few pranksters that had fun playing an April Fools joke on me by rearranging the choir room somewhat. Thought you might be interested in this photo which shows something you'll probably never see again - a clean choir room! :) Posted by Hello

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Reminders of upcoming events

Hi all,

FYI - reminding you about the things we have coming up soon:

Friday, April 1 -
7:30 a.m. - Lambuth Singers meet at the Ballroom - blues and khakis - community breakfast
7:00 p.m. - Faculty Recital - all music majors required, everyone else strongly encouraged!

Saturday, April 2 -
10:30 a.m. - Concert Choir - meet in choir room for Zuker Inauguration (11am)
formal black attire

Sunday, April 3
3 p.m. - Steven Whitson's senior recital!!!!

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Good job Singers!

Great job on your outside work on the Beatus Vir! That's exactly what I was looking for - now we can go on to make music with it! Danke schön!
RCB

Monday, March 21, 2005

Thanks to festival workers!

A HUGE thank you...

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!....

to all of you who helped out with the WTVMEA Senior High Choral Festival before spring break. I really appreciate the time and effort you put in! Everything ran EXACTLY on schedule...no schedule delays...and the high school directors commented that it was the best-run festival they've attended. And your hard work is paying huge dividends in terms of positive exposure in the West TN music community and continued recruiting of even more great singers like yourselves! Our numbers are looking GREAT next year, and the quality of auditionees has been outstanding.

Onward and upward!
RCB

Bernhardt needs some Geritol.....

Hey Singers,

Sorry about my "senior moment" with "I Get a Kick" today. I think it's a manifestation of my lack of office computer over the past 2 weeks - it's been my best defense against the slippery slope of senility! (You know, my beard USED to be RED.....) :)

Good to have y'all back!
RCB

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Schedule for this week

Hi everyone,

No classes are scheduled at Lambuth on Good Friday. Since we don't have many weeks left before our April concert, we do need to rehearse both groups on Thursday afternoon. However, since many of us have Maundy Thursday responsibilities that evening, I'd like to shorten each rehearsal a bit so we can get done with both choirs by 5:00.

RCB

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Solo assignments for Monteverdi Beatus Vir

Hi Lambuth Singers,

Here are the solo assignments for the middle section of the Monteverdi Beatus Vir. They're actually duet and trio texture for the most part.

Catherine Childs
Sop 1, m. 62-66, 77-80, 86-98, 159-162
Meghan Arnold
Sop 2, m. 62-66, 77-80, 86-89
join Catherine on Sop 1 m. 90-98
Sop 2, 159-162
John Wells
Ten. 2, m. 74-198
Steven Whitson
Ten. 1 m. 74-77, 83-86, 91-98
Steven Albart
Bass m. 89-98, 109-122, 168-198
Kendal Campbell
Sop 1, m. 106-109, 126-130, 136-147, 176-198
Christie Terreson
Sop 2, m. 106-109, 126-130, 136-147, 176-198
Dustin Walters
Ten. 1, m. 114-198
Drew Jones
Bass m. 142-151

See me to schedule some individual rehearsal time. We'll also get together as a small group outside of regular rehearsal, so check your calendars and let me know what times you might have free over the next couple of weeks. See you back at school on Monday! Hope you had a good break!
Dr. B

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Assignment for Lambuth Singers - reminder

For the Tuesday after we get back from spring break - have the final section of Beatus Vir ready, pitches and rhythms PERFECTED. I want to be able to listen to you as a group, be satisfied that everyone is up to speed, and move on to shaping the music, rather than taking time in rehearsal to listen to individuals or sections. The main purpose of outside preparation is to make maximum effective use of rehearsal time, not just to see how much you can learn on your own.

If you haven't done so already, I'd still love to hear your reactions to the memorization pro/con issue and the Men's/Women's choir idea. Click one of the "comments" links and let me know whatcha think. I'll see you all at the high school choir festival this week. Have a great spring break!
RCB

New music books in library

I ordered several new books and CDs for the Lambuth library earlier this year, and several have been cataloged and placed on the shelves as of this week. One book deals with the subject matter we've been discussing on the blog:

Stage Presence from Head to Toe - Karen Hagberg
Call no. ML3795.H13 2003

Take a look at it and let me know what you think. Another good choral resource just cataloged this week is:

Choral Performance: A Guide to Historical Practice - Steven Plank
Call no. MT875.P53 2004

Cheers!
Dr. B

Monday, March 07, 2005

Two ideas on which I'd like input

Hi gang,

Some really great comments on the blog lately! There’s much fuel for discussion over the next several months. This is exactly the reason why I started this blog, and why I invited Alma to sing with us–to get some dialogue going about achieving even higher standards of excellence and what all of us can do to improve our ensembles.

Two issues to talk about:
(1) Visual presentation, memorization
Many of you have commented on the visual aspect of Alma’s performance, particualrly the memorization of their tour program. It’s an issue I’ve revisited several times over the years. While we do work quite a bit on visual presentation with our fall tour, we should do more throughout the year, whether or not we memorize a program. Here are some of my thoughts about memorization, as well as its history in the Lambuth choral program.

As I said the other day, memorization has historically been seen by many as a “high school thing” (although with a few notable exceptions–St. Olaf immediately comes to mind). For example, I spent 10 years in three of the best university choral programs in the country (University of MO, UNC-Greensboro, Michigan State), and we never memorized anything. We haven’t memorized in any of the professional choirs with which I’ve been involved either. While NOT memorizing a program is foreign to many of you because of your high school backgrounds, memorizing has always been foreign to me because of my background.

When I first came to Lambuth, the choir traditionally memorized their tour program. However, the level and quality of literature being performed was low, and the sound of the choir was below an average high school choir. (I have old tapes of the choir before I came somewhere if you’d like to hear them.) I decided that, unless I drastically increased rehearsal time, we would need to use folders on tour that year if I wanted to have a choir that was even close to sounding collegiate. There was a HUGE amount of resistance to this, but once the singers figured out that they sounded a lot better, they got used to it.

There are really compelling pros and cons on either side of the memorization issue. The pros of memorization are:

Improved visual aesthetic impact to the audience. A barrier is removed between the singer and the audience, and it allows you to express the music with your whole body. The visual effect of a completely memorized program can be quite stunning! The appearance of the singers can look more uniform.

More thorough learning of the music. To be able to retain pitch, rhythm, text, and musical nuance, you really become immersed in the music.

One less thing to carry on tour! You don’t have to worry about leaving your folder behind. If even one singer doesn’t have a folder on stage, they end up looking like a leftover appendage stuck to the rest of the group.

The cons are:

Every small nuance of the music has to be memorized. Not only do you have to remember the basic elements of pitch, rhythm, and text, but you have to retain an incredible amount of musical detail over a program that lasts more than an hour.

One memory slip-up can damage a performance. It’s easier to do than you think–even with people who are the kings of memorization!

Inevitably, there’s always a trade-off. Dr. Nichols from Alma looked at our tour program and commented that he’d like to be able to do a few harder things like we had on our program, but memorization takes them 3 extra weeks. Memorization takes time–and that time has to come from somewhere.

Having said all this, I’d be interested in trying a memorized tour program as an experiment, starting with the Lambuth Singers spring tour. I’m game if you’re game! Realize, however, that in order to make this happen, we would have to commit to one or more of the following:

Reduce the difficulty of the program: Not gonna do it! If anything, we need to do a more difficult program.

Reduce the length of the program: mmm.....maybe.....

Extra rehearsals on a regular basis: I’m certainly willing to do this within reason (although staying married is a priority with me!).

Spend more time individually or in small bunches outside of rehearsal working on music: This is the key, and this is what all professional choirs do. When I sang with the Desert Chorale, it was stated in our contract that we had to come to the first rehearsal with our notes learned perfectly. We then had 24 hours of rehearsal for each rep to work on musical nuance.

(2) Structure of the choral program

Particularly since our choir and university have both shrunk some over the past few years, there isn’t a big difference between Lambuth Singers and Concert Choir. Although it’s always ended up working OK, balance between men and women in the larger group has always been an issue (and will continue to be in the future). The choral program will be significantly larger next year, but we’ll still have a few more women than men.

What I’ve been thinking about over the past couple of years is this: What would you think about splitting the Concert Choir into a Men’s Choir and Women’s Choir?

There would be many advantages:
1) Less worry about balance between men and women. You can have two groups with perfect balance within each ensemble even if you have 20 men and 80 women.

2) More variety of literature. This is important in programming, but it’s also a good thing for our music education majors to be exposed to men’s and women’s literature.

3) Greater identity and purpose for those not in Lambuth Singers. Building two new groups that aren’t simply “Lambuth Singers Plus” may really help morale for some of the singers, in my opinion.

4) Better recruiting opportunities. In particular, a permanent men’s chorus would really help in attracting more men to the program.

We could still combine the two groups for special choral/orchestral performances, doing the Alma Mater and Irish Blessing, and other special occasions.

Please let me know your thoughts on these two ideas by clicking on the “comments” link right below this post and sharing your ideas.
Cheers!
Dr. B