Excitement in the Air

My community choir had its first rehearsal of the new season this week.  I love starting a new season. The singers come to the rehearsal with an energy and an excitement that is catching.  They've had the summer off, and they are ready to sing again.  They gather together with their friends and fellow singers and look forward to creating some beautiful music.

Unfortunately, there are some problems that arise after taking some time off.

1. The cohesiveness of the group is diminished.  At the end of the season, the choir blends beautifully and syncs their thoughts together.  When we start a new season, the group is different -- we have lost some singers and gained some others.  It takes us a while to find that blend and cohesiveness that we have had in the past.
2. With new personalities added to the mix, the choir often has underlying tensions that can only be worked through with time.  I encourage my singers to talk to me -- about anything.  As the director, I need to know if a singer is bothered or offended by something I do or another member does.  Over the summer, I went to lunch with a couple of ladies.  One of them told me how much she was bothered by some members of her section chatting during the rehearsal.  Since I am so focused on what I am doing, I was totally unaware of any chatting taking place.  I need to be informed of those things.  If someone doesn't tell me, and I am unaware of the problem, there's no way that I can address it.
3. The singers may forget that singing requires a different voice than talking.  Singing requires a raised soft palate and open, pure vowels.  The sounds I hear from them at the first rehearsal are usually nothing like what I hear from them later in the season.  It just takes time for them to remember how to sing.
4. The singers often forget how to phrase correctly.  They forget that every phrase has a high point to which the music should rise and fall.  Having them physically lean toward that high point as they are singing can help them not only sing the phrase well but also feel the phrasing.
5. We have to start learning all new music.  Some of my singers are musicians that are excellent readers; I have others that don't know how to read music at all.  Although it is every director's desire that all of their singers learn their notes at home, that usually doesn't happen, so we often have to plunk out notes during the beginning rehearsals.  This can be frustrating for those who know how to read music.  However, I keep reminding them that they are the leaders and that they need to lead so that the others will have someone dependable to follow.
6. We have to start learning all new music.  I know -- that was point #5, also.  However, another aspect of that is that it gets tedious working through parts on songs.  Most singers would love to just open the music and sing through the piece.  We can sometimes do that, if the piece is a fairly simple one.  There are other times, though, when the music is really difficult, that we have to tear apart the music and learn it line by line.  That usually happens in the spring, when we do a major work.  The singers are always thrilled when we can put the piece together and sing it through for the first time.

The exciting thing about starting a new season is that everyone is fresh from the summer off and ready to start singing.  There is an excitement and enthusiasm that I work hard to hang onto as long as I can. When my singers are enjoying themselves, then I know that the two-hour block of time that they gave up to spend with me was worth the sacrifice.  I also know that singing can bring a joy and peace to my singers that nothing else can do.  That's why they keep coming back week after week.  I hope, though, that they also come back because they're having fun.  A rehearsal that isn't fun is a waste of my time and of theirs.  That is something I work very hard to keep from happening.