Composer/Conductor Interest Session at ACDA Dallas

 Next Thursday morning at 10:30 AM at the San Antonio Ballroom of the Dallas Sheraton Hotel, I will be moderating a panel discussion titled "Paradigm Shift: The New Conductor/Composer Dynamic". The panel I have assembled for this is truly great- I have some of the leading edge composers in the field, especially versed in publishing their own works using the internet and technology as well as two conductors who are championing the dissemination of quality new choral music. Here is the description of the session as it appears in ACDA publications:

In this panel discussion we will explore the new ways that conductors and living composers are collaborating and advancing the performance of exciting new choral music which goes beyond the scope of the usual three-minute octavo. More than ever, forward thinking conductors and composers are working together much more directly, often via commission and consortium commission projects which address musical as well as social issues, projects which involve students more in the process, and utilizing new technology such as Skype in order to achieve common goals. The energetic conductors and composers assembled for this panel are all highly experienced advocates in all of these areas. Ms. Simpkin King's “Project Encore" is not yet well-known; we hope to give it more visibility via her participation. There will be ample time allowed for Q and A with the audience.

I hope you will attend this session- I think it is going to be lively, informative, and very interesting!

MODERATOR

PAUL CAREY is a choral composer, conductor, and highly-read blogger noting developments in the US choral field. He has recently presented interest sessions at North Central ACDA (2012), Nebraska ACDA (2012), Hong Kong Choir Festival (2010) and South Korea (2009). Recent commissions have been awarded by the ACDA women's composition consortium, Incheon City Chorale, Ithaca College, and others.

PANELISTS

ABBIE BETINIS has been commissioned by 50+ ensembles, including Cantus, Dale Warland Singers, St. Olaf Choir, and Santa Fe Desert Chorale. A McKnight Artist Fellow, and listed in NPR’s Top 100 Composers Under 40, she is composer-in-residence for The Singers—Minnesota Choral Artists, and President of the Independent Music Publishers Cooperative.

BUDDY JAMES is the Director of Choral and Vocal Activities and teaches Graduate Studies in Choral Music at California State University, East Bay. James has conducted performances for The Lancaster Opera Company, The San Francisco Bay Area Chamber Choir, and has performed as a member of the Robert Page Cleveland Singers, The San Francisco Choral Artists, and The Los Angeles Master Chorale.  James is a founding member and past president of the National Collegiate Choral Organization, and recently served on the board for Intercollegiate Men's Choruses.

DR. DEBORAH SIMPKIN KING is a choral and vocal performer and educator, working in the northern New Jersey/Manhattan area. As Artistic Director and Founder of the performing and educational organization, Schola Cantorum on Hudson, and Founder of the international initiative in support of new choral music, Project: Encore™, she is known for creative programming and the premiering of new choral compositions.

JOAN SZYMKO's music is sung by distinguished ensembles across North America and abroad, with performances at five consecutive National Conferences of ACDA. Especially significant is her contribution to the body of literature for women's voices. ACDA recognized Szymko's lasting contribution to the choral arts by selecting her as the recipient of the 2010 Raymond W. Brock Memorial Commission.

REGINAL UNTERSEHER, composer, is published by Oxford University Press, Walton Music, and at www.reginaldunterseher.com. He presented the first ACDA ePublishing Reading Session in 2012. He serves as NWACDA Men's Choirs R and S Chair and is a member of Male Ensemble Northwest.

A Choral Music Revolution- no more junk food!

It still seems so strange to me that music publishers think that composers should always color inside nice, neat lines and provide a constant source of predigested music for their masses. They hope we will consistently give them what they want (speaking in the choral publishing world for now, as that is what I do the most): a formulaic 3-4 minute piece, with a simplistic text, very limited tessituras, NO DIVISI ("divisi bad, bad, bad"), and a happy ending (and, oh yeah... high sales figures). An easy to sing piece that parents gurgle a contented "ah" to when they hear their grade school or high school child sing in concert. And, btw, dear composer, don't forget that anything with drums sells, and anything touchy-feely and dedicated"to the children"or "for the sake of our children" sells & sells (like an Energizer Bunny).











So... here is what happens. Some of us do write pieces sort of within some of those parameters. But it just kills me though when the publishers only expect that product to arrive in their submission inbox and the only thing they say over and over is, "Well we love your music, so write your very, very best music, find that fabulous text, create art on the very highest level.. but just make sure it is (and here all composers cringe)... accessible". Ah yes, the dreaded "A" word.


My reaction to this is as follows- to set out on purpose to write "accessible" music will usually result in blandness and lack of creativity. Nor will these purposely mediocre pieces ever challenge a choir in the ways many of them want to be challenged. Where is their opportunity for growth if all we ever feed them is pablum? There are choirs out there who want to sing music with divisi, yet no publisher believes this to be true.

Better to write a good piece of music that just happens to be "accessible" within certain parameters. Composers should write pieces with creativity and then, if they choose, gradually craft some of them into age-appropriate or choir type-appropriate models. It is fun and rewarding to do original pieces and arrangements along these lines. But the creative spark has to come first and remain foremost. Better to listen to that inner creative voice than to print out a banner in screaming CAPS to place over your piano that says "PLEASE THE PUBLISHERS AT ALL TIMES- BE ACCESSIBLE" and have that as your motivation.

I will always write my off the wall stuff and I encourage every other composer to do the same-- keep writing amazing pieces you want to write even if you already know they aren't mediocre and predictable enough to please the average publisher-- the pieces that are not formulaic, are longer than four minutes, are musically and textually challenging, aren't a tidy ABA form, contain divisi, and so on.

How can we make a major shift in our musical world? It's really pretty obvious- directors and composers need to work together more directly, and stop relying on the mainstream publishers to set values. We need a new era where composers and directors collaborate far more and stop accepting the junk that the mainstream publishers and retailers think we want for our choirs. In other words, we need to rebel- composers need to stop writing to mainstream publishers narrow standards of so-called accessibility, and directors need to stop buying garbage from Hal Leonard and the like and stop blindly purchasing whatever JW Pepper and other music mega-retailers are telling you to buy. If a Jamie Oliver can start a "Food Revolution" in this country and work his tail off to quash junk food in our schools, why can't we band together and start a choral music revolution?We really do owe this to ourselves AND to our children to start turning things around. We need to stop looking for an EASY button when it comes to how we write music, teach it, and choose repertoire.




http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution


Dear directors, I have an idea for you: think of doing this-- that composer whose published music you already know you like-- e-mail or phone them and ask them what they have in manuscript that the publishers won't touch (you know, the pieces the publishers would cringe over and treat like proverbial red-haired stepchildren if they were forced to take them in). Ask about the pieces a quality creative composer has in ms that "won't sell", but of which they are especially proud, and that probably have gotten zero or just a few performances. You would be making a composer or two very happy if you would seek out their so-called "unpublishable" music and consider it for your program.

Dear composers, get out there in the real world more and form more personal relationships with choral directors and their choirs. We as composers have got to be far more visible and more approachable for directors and choirs of all ages and types. And start asking directors what they would like to see you writing and work together with them one on one. I assure you that doing this will be very rewarding as a composer and as a person.

Let's get rid of the junk, start fresh, and work together a whole lot more!

Thanks for reading,and I do feel I need to go on record at this moment and state that I do have a wonderful relationship with the Roger Dean Company and their editor Scott Foss, who has always treated me with respect and honor.

PC