MAGIC IS POSSIBLE
By Stephen Rew
“Never Settle for Beautiful when MAGIC is possible.” – Charles Bruffy
As a young director at a SWACDA Conference in Kansas City, I found myself sitting in the balcony of the Folly Theatre watching a performance by a Women’s Choir from Seoul, Korea. As a recent college graduate, I listened intently to the group and the precision of the performance. After all, my college training was all about the technical elements needed to make a successful presentation of a piece. This group checked all of the boxes. Their intonation was flawless; each onset, each consonant, and each phrase was meticulously executed. It was like watching an army march in step. It was, in a word, perfect. I was IMPRESSED.
As the performance concluded, the crowd of choral directors stood with tremendous applause. It was clear that every member of the crowd knew what it took to have a group of humans sing that precisely. As the applause continued, you could hear the directors murmur, “The most articulate choir I have ever heard,” “What skill and technique,” and “Amazing.” When the applause finally faded, the director turned to the audience, addressing us for the first time and hesitantly announced that the choir would now perform an encore just for our group that they had just recently begun to work on…a setting of “Amazing Grace.” As they started, it was like the group became a different ensemble. There was no longer a “military-like” precision to each entrance. The performance was the opposite: emotional, real, and vulnerable. There was nothing exceptional about the arrangement either. It was simple, with a soloist doing her very best to sing a song not in her native tongue surrounded by an a capella accompaniment. In that moment, they connected their culture to a song known to everyone in the theater. It was so expressive, not nearly as precise as their previous offerings, but IT WAS MOVING. It was MAGIC.
As we rose for our second standing ovation, there was not a murmur, just the wiping away of tears as a choir from halfway across the world reached into my childhood because they truly connected to the piece.
“What makes you vulnerable, makes you beautiful” – Brene Brown
As I sit here, a veteran educator of over 20 years, I still think about that concert. Can you think of one in your own life? How can we create for an audience an experience like that? How do I train my choir to connect with the music they are performing and move past the notes on the page instead of the emotion behind the music? We have so many strategies for teaching notes and rhythms, etc. We have solfege for pitch mastery, we have takadimi. We audiate, we discuss balance, blend, onset, posture, and
dynamics. Truly none of this gets to the heart of what we do.
How do we create MAGIC?
So, I asked the magic makers. I sat down with the RP Chamber Singers (the top ensemble at my school) and asked them how they are able to do just that. I think they provide a great insight to the mind of a High School age singer in a group that truly shows emotion on stage. Here are a few of their thoughts about what helps them become their “most musical” selves:
“Especially at the high school, most of your classes at school you are thrown in with random kids from around the school. In choir, we get to know each other and learn through connections. We are not afraid to show emotion because we are not singing for the audience. We are singing for each other. I think a lot of choirs say they are a family, but we actually have actual conversations.”
“We connect as a choir. We are able to express ourselves because we can trust that if we open up we won’t be judged.”
“You help us understand what the composer or the poetry means to you and allow us to make it mean something for ourselves.”
You taught us that a choir is only as strong as its weakest link. We feel like we have to give our very best or we let down the entire group. We set a level of comfort with each other, and we have confidence in each other and ourselves.”
“I appreciate how you have approached delicate songs that allow us to empathize with other people and understand their circumstances and how they relate to ours.”
“I remember you saying: ‘This time, just sing in a way that makes the music feel right…ask for forgiveness…not permission. Just go for it.’”
At the end of our conversation, I asked them how we got to this place. What things could a director do to get their singers to where you are? I have included a brief explanation of each activity. Before we dive into their suggestions, a disclaimer: the culture of your room matters more than any single activity. Anything here will not work without a classroom built on honesty and personal accountability.
Lights out:
This one is pretty simple. Once you have a piece learned, memorized, and ready to add a “spark,” have your singers close their eyes or turn out the lights. You will be amazed by the music that they make without their vision and without a conductor.
Formation Changes:
Sing a song in a BILLION different formations. Allow them to pick their spots or choose them randomly (I have been known to pass out a playing card to each singer as they walk in and have them stand next to the same suit). Have them specifically sing next to someone they have never sung with before.
Stand rehearsals:
Borrow stands from your band teacher. Set 2 singers to a stand and face the middle of the room in a circle. This rehearsal needs to be when the music is well in hand, but not learned. Allow the singers to make specific musical choices and discuss as you rehearse. Kids BEG to have stand rehearsals and they are among my favorites as well.
Daily Quotes:
I started this years ago as a way to engage in conversations. During our Technique and Efficiency time (what some call warmups, but let’s be honest…we are really working on our technique and efficiency…there is probably another article to be written here) we started just having someone read a quote from a famous person that I put up on the screen. Early on, this led to some standard conversations, but as I have been strategic about the quotes I use during a given time, the quote has become a more and more important part of our day. The level of vulnerability and frank discussions I see would blow you away. It makes me feel really good about the next generation. I have also witnessed real changes in my students as humans through the simple act of discussing these truths. In our discussion today a student said it this way: “Our daily quotes set the tone for vulnerability.”
3rd Lining:
I learned this in college voice lessons and have applied it to choral music. Every song has 3 lines:
1. The musical elements (notes, rhythms, dynamics, etc.)
2. The text
3. The meaning behind the text and how you connect to it (the hidden line)
By simply discussing this third line, students begin to understand that they are not just singing words given to them in a score, but instead a message that someone thought was important enough to write down.
Moving all the time and with purpose:
Every one of our technique and efficiency exercises has a movement and a reason. We should do the same in our music. Moving to the pulse while “skating” around the room. Showing the phrase by lifting your hand, combining those things together. Have the students conduct themselves on the piece mirroring your gesture. So many things can be done here. Use in technique time (warmups) and within literature.
Concert Theming:
Giving a “through line” to a concert and allowing the choirs to see the purpose for each element not only connects within the choir, but within the program. It is VERY challenging to find music to meet each level of choir, but VERY worth it for an end product where everyone has contributed to the full vision of a concert.
Extra musical connections:
Learn every kid’s name by the end of the first week. Make flashcards from your gradebook program if you must.
Celebrate a student for success outside of the choir room.
Have the star softball player in class? Ask them about their game in front of everyone else and celebrate their successes.
Sing a stupid song whenever it is someone’s birthday.
Schedule short retreats for your singers to connect outside of the rehearsal space.
Greet every kid, every day by name.
Go caroling.
Eat pizza.
Be weird, be authentic, be vulnerable (but appropriate!) and they will follow your lead.
Choose music that encourages discussion: Here are a few that I have found to do just that
(all voicings…look them up…thank me later):
A Boy and a Girl – Whitacre
A Letter From a Girl to the World – Ramsey
All You Have – Norris
Autumn – Shank
Can We Sing the Darkness to Light? – Pederson
Common Threads – Ramsey
Crossing the Bar – Walker
Here – Rist (This one…do this one…)
Good Night, Dear Heart – Forrest
Home – Main
I Saw a Child – Main
In the Middle – Trumbore
Jenny – Myers
Journeyman’s Song – Ayres
Measure Me, Sky – Reid
No Time – Brumfield
Only in Sleep – Esenvalds
Perhaps – Trumbore
Please Stay – Runestad
Song of Miriam – Hagenberg
Stand Tall, O Man – Berg
Tell My Father – Ramsey
The Road Home – Paulus
There Will Be Rest – Ticheli
We Remember Them – LaBarr
Where the Light Begins – LaBarr
(got more? Send them my way)
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What a strange thing it is that we do, my friends. We make music on the wind with other humans as our instruments. Without a choir, we are simply waving our hands. Thank your singers for making MAGIC possible.
