Folks,
I encourage the comments you have provided - there's some great material for discussion! However, I must insist that in the future you include your name in your comment, and that you refrain from comments that aren't courteous to other members of the ensemble. Constructive criticism and honesty are always welcome; comments to your peers like "get a life" are inappropriate, particularly when they're anonymous. I've changed the settings so that you must create a user name to post.
I'll be posting some responses to comments just as soon as I get done with setup for the Alma concert tonight.
Dr. B
This blog is for members and friends of the Lambuth University Concert Choir and Lambuth Singers. Please help us build choral community by sharing your thoughts!
Your humble director :)
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2005
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March
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- Reminders of upcoming events
- Good job Singers!
- Thanks to festival workers!
- Bernhardt needs some Geritol.....
- Schedule for this week
- Solo assignments for Monteverdi Beatus Vir
- Assignment for Lambuth Singers - reminder
- New music books in library
- Two ideas on which I'd like input
- Bravo to Meghan!
- Comments
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March
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10 comments:
test - Dr. B
ok
despite john's quest to make me ramble, i tend to not make my feelings know unless i get really mad or disheartened. so if i have something to say i'll say it to the parties in question. im gonna go check out the alma choir again cause they rock (explative)!
canada
Well, for me, I'm sure most of you understand that I have come from a really strong background of music.
For me, it is sometimes very fustrating to go out to perform and have folders out for music, and to also not enter with any kind of formation. It seems foriegn to me. I am left with nothing but to compare to my high school experiences.
I am not going to sit here and boast. I believe that this chior has just as much talent as any of the chiors out there. We have to be willing to go the extra mile and go beyond the mediocracy of your average small school chior. Smaller numbers can be better! I've seen it myself. There is raw talent sitting within that small little chior room at Lambuth University.
Is anyone willing to make a name for themselves, for this school?
A tradition can be devoloped if there is a small core of people who will not settle for average but exceed goals that have never been reached before. I tell you again, I have seen it done! I have been a part of that before.
I think we should stop the usage of folders AND learn difficult music.
College is suppose to be challenging in every field anyways. Isn't it? It is what drives us to be better people in life. Also, by doing that you draw even more talent towards Lambuth & the Arts, which is totally slacking in Tennessee Education. e are the role models for young kids around here and if we think that we are just average then they will settle for average and the cycle will continue.
I also believe we should take atleast one half of a rehearsal each semester to go over how we should exit and enter. It's all part of the show people. Audiences get their first impression on how the chior or performers enter the stage. In fact, it should be performance time as soon as we arrive to the destination. It shows great professionalism and shows discipline also.
Another reason I think the folders hold us from being top notch is that they keep us from being expressive. Visuals always help the audience enjoy what they are watching. You really can't do it if your face is burried in your folder.
Another topic that wasn't mentioned much was how we run through the program before a performance. Sometimes we don't even run through the music before we perform it. I think that would help to run through everything and remind of any tough spots before the performance.
Just with these few adjustments, I think that it would make us look and sound like a top-notch group. Even with the very few rehearsals and low numbers of chior members, we could still take on and compete with the best.
I've heard all types of chiors and one thing that some of us don't understand is how much are you willing to sell what you are singing/telling the audience. You have to make the audience experience any emotion that you are singing. When you are able to do that, then you form a connection to them and in turn you connect with each other on stage and it can be magical. Yes, I said magical! I've experienced it before. I would like to experience it again.
Dr. B knows how to make us one of the region's best. If we can do our job well, I'm sure we will go to levels that have never been reached here.
Let's learn the tough music and start sectionals out of class to learn the hard stuff.
Lets develop small ensembles like a Barbershop Quartet or a Sweet Adalines group.
Let's sing more on weekends so that our tone blends more and harmony becomes our expression to the public.
I think Dr. B has taken it real easy on us. I think we SHOULD be tested weekly. I mean, we have stinkin' practice lessons on the website to listen to for cryin' out loud and we still manage to have note problems. If we have sectionals then we wouldn't waste time on plucking out notes at the piano during chior when we could really be making music out of the pieces.
There is so many small things that we could do that would help the chior tremendously. It takes our time and effort to make a difference people.
And that is all I have to say. Thanks! :0)
Special thanks to Stephen for what he said. I passed it along to my choir in this blog entry:
http://uabchoirs.blogspot.com/2005/03/comments-from-lambuth-good-for-uab.html
if that entry doesn't work, just look here:
http://uabchoirs.blogspot.com
Wow...Steven...that was awesome, I completely agree because I came from a High School choir and a semi-professional touring youth choir that were very big on weekly testing, extra practices and the aesthetical aspects of performing (entering/exiting and not using folders). It has been very foreign to me as well to not have to practicing walking on and off and stuff like that.
I for one am completely willing to devote more time to making the Lambuth Choirs the BEST they can be. After all, it's what I came to school for and I don't feel like I've been contributing the 100% that I should. I know time is a huge issue in college, but I also know that just a little bit of extra rehearsal every week, and maybe designated sectional time will make a world of difference in not only our sound, but our professionalism as well.
Anyway, just thought I'd add my two cents...Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I will see you all (or a good part of you) at All-Sing tommorow! It's gonna be awesome!
well, I just went and watched "All-Sing" and I was really impressed with everybody. I thought, if this much time, effort, and energy was pointed towards ANY other activity like a music program or any other field here at Lambuth, this school would make a huge name for itself.
I would say that more time has been spent practicing for "All-Sing" and "Lambuthpalooza" then all the time combined for Lambuth Singers and Concert Choir for both semesters so far. I think that is pretty sad. It is almost upsetting to know that. I am surprised to know that people actually spend hours upon hours a week to get 10-12 min. worth of dance and song out in one performance. It was like a Jazz Choir Extravaganza. Wait! I said Jazz Choir. Nobody would want to do it here because it is just not "CooL" enough I guess. I mean, I actually saw people who had no talent whatsoever out there and they made it look like a million bucks. It just saddens me to see that no energy is used to improve a music program, but to improve a HuGe EveNt like, "All-Sing" people are willing to sacrifice doing homework later in the night and losing sleep. Tell me what you think...
personally i dont do all-sing because i feel it it a bad thing to have my fraternity brothers out at night two and three days a week practicing for three hours a nite. i think that my brothers should be focusing more on their grades than that. i have way more important stuff (in my personal life) than all sing. thats why i dont do it.
canada
apparently i also cannot spell
Thanks for the input, Kendal. High school directors HAVE to be a bit fanatical about things like that, because they are trying to instill in their students the importance of professionalism. My point all along in this discussion has been that, by the college level, we must be able to achieve said professionalism sans sunburn. :)
I've known directors who pull out the tape measure to check hems on everyone. Those people have WAY too much time on their hands! If the women of a group want to get together to do that, be my guest....I'd rather focus on music.
As I mentioned in rehearsal, one of the best ensembles I heard at ACDA in LA had mismatching dresses and carried folders...but nobody cared because musically they were SO GOOD! I agree that the visual aspect of performance is important, but too often it's overemphasized at the expense of musicality. "All show, no substance", as it were. I'm all for anything we can do to improve the visual performance as long as it adds to the overall effect without sacrificing anything in the musical performance.
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