Philip Copeland: Most Music Publishing Gets it Wrong

I'm going to share some exchanges going on at ChoralNet. I'll post this in two parts- the first part begins with some thoughts from the very wise and savvy Philip Copeland (and also an amazing conudctor) and then goes into discussion. The next one, which I will post tomorrow, is a quasi-rebuttal by ChoralNet contributor Allen Simon and you'll see that thread of discussion too. Of course I have an opinion to voice as always! Hope you enjoy the reading:

Most Music Publishing Gets it Wrong
Date: September 17, 2010
by philip copeland mail icon
It has been a pretty long time since I last blogged about the music publishing industry. I have been frustrated with their paper-based economic business plan for sometime now and have blogged about it here, here, and here.

The music publishing is far too entrenched in the Gutenberg model and relies solely on the economics of paper, printing, and postage.

We choral directors are the ones paying the price for their entrenchment, whenever we:

* order a piece of music
* pay for postage/shipping
* have a work is back-ordered
* find out that a work is "permanently out of print"
* have to wait for a piece to be delivered.

I wonder about how much better it could be every time I:

* have to provide my own translation
* have to find an expert to make a recording of a language pronunciation
* have to provide my own IPA transcription to a piece of music

I am reminded of how inefficient a system we have every time I:

* instantly download a book from Kindle or Amazon or Barnes & Noble
* instantly download a recording from iTunes
* instantly download a video online

Where is the music publisher of the twenty-first century?
Where is the publisher that provides bonus supplemental material to aid in my teaching?
Who will be the first music publisher that *really* gets it right?
Replies will be publicly viewable once approved. To reply privately, click on the author's name above.
Reply >>
Greg Bartholomew on September 17, 2010 3:27
You might want to consider the many self-published composers and other independent music publishers who do provide the option to purchase downloadable sheet music and/or pdfs with a license for you to make your own copies, as well as full score information, score samples and audio files available on their websites. Robert Wendel has started a webpage listing some of them (Independent Classical Music Publishers), including my own Burke & Bagley. Another great new music distributing source is Art of Sound Music, although so far they have little choral music.
Reply >>
Terry Taylor on September 17, 2010 4:08
When I put my choral conductor's hat on, I could not agree more. A great opportunity awaits the company who can provide a user-friendly, full-service product with educational bonus materials, and can provide it digitally and instantly. What if that company created a blog where the publisher, composer, and directors could have a clearinghouse of teaching, resource, and performance ideas for its anthems? What if that company linked its product to ChoralNet, ACDA, YouTube, Twitter, etc.?

Also, the more I enter this world as a customer, the more pressure I am placing on our copy machine and office infrastructure. (BTW, our office uses a really fancy, sophisticated color/BW copier that staples, punches, duplexes, and makes PDFs, FAXs, emails, booklets, coffee, and omelettes. But the parameters for making customized copies do not accommodate anthem-sized paper!) Is the day here when notation can displayed digitally? "Singers, turn on your iPads, and open "Glory to God." I'm ready. And, while we're there, have the notation application help singers to learn their parts outside rehearsal.

When I don my publisher's hat, the pictures changes some. I was once a president of a little company that sold downloadable children's anthems. Sales reports indicated that 75% of purchases were for one copy of a title, indicating most directors bought the one copy, displayed the text, and taught the music by rote, rather than buying a copy for every singer. The composers received little royalty, and the company did not survive. (Of course, SATB music can't be taught by rote so easily, but this experience could represent the fear of many traditional publishing companies). Still, one wonders IF the digital company had been supported with honesty by its customers, it might have flurished and pressured the Gutenbergists to adapt and compete.

In spite of this and other issues, we all need to move forward. So, I join you, Philip, in a challenge to publishers, composers, and choral directors to bravely enter this new digital world with a commitment to honesty and integrity, and envision and embrace the potential it holds for our children, youth, and adult singers and institutions.

Reply >>
Paul Carey on September 17, 2010 5:28
Amen, brother!

My 2 cents: Folks out there should know that many of us not-yet-dead composers are promoting our new music through our websites, and usually provide a pdf file for the purchaser to copy- saving instantly on postage and time. We also help ourselves survive since we then don't give up 90% of our earnings to a publisher on these"self-published" pieces, many of which are far more interesting than the pieces that are accepted for publication by the usual publishers.In addition, we're very easy to work with regarding performance rights, mechanical licenses, etc. We're trying to get new music out there in the world and are thrilled when we hear directly from choral directors.

The next problem to solve is this-- getting convention/conference organizers to stop looking down on self-published" or manuscript pieces. Currently it is very difficult, even for a top name clinician who has chosen such a piece for one of their guest gigs, to get such music into the hands of conference attendees. There is a large disconnect when the sheet music retailer comes into play. They want the ease of placing large orders with traditional print companies, not have to deal with the details of working with self-published composers. Hopefully we can change peoples minds abou this, but currently it is a problem. I would guess that Tim Sharp and the new energy at ACDA will lead the way in most of this!

Paul Carey
www.paulcarey.net
paulcarey440.blogspot.com
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John Wexler on September 17, 2010 5:57
I would endorse what Greg Bartholomew writes: many of us independent publishers are trying to develop better ways to do on-line sheet music publishing. We have diverse ideas about how to do that, but we are all trying to improve on the old printed-paper system with all its annoyances and frustrations. We think we can give you a better deal than the traditional publishers, and we'd love to sell to you. However, as yet, none of us is Big and Famous, so you don't know where to look to find us. Here's a clue: http://www.canasg.com (and a little searching on the web will easily yield more ideas).

There is, of course, one overriding issue: you buy the music that you like, from whoever publishes it, regardless of their business model. If the piece you plan to perform comes from a crusty, awkward, disobliging and expensive publisher ... you just have to pay the money and bear the grief. But, if you take a look at our list, you may find that we too have pieces that you'd like to do. If you don't take a look, then you'll never know.

John Wexler
Partner, Canasg Music
Edinburgh, Scotland
Reply >>
Jeffrey Caulk on September 17, 2010 6:22
Slightly related, I found there are music stands that are digital screens you can work with - the picture came in a lifeway box. But I think it's orchestra/instrumentalist specific. Can't recall any other details.
Reply >>
Jean-Francois Noel on September 17, 2010 6:27
My "new" publishing choral company does just that. The site is in french for now, and when time allows, an english version will come (and more titles too). Many audio examples are available, many downlable samples too. No shipping or duties to pay, and when I have the music on hand, the files get emailed within 24 to 48 hours. What the choir is purchasing is a license, not paper.

I do have to rely on their honesty not to give away the files or lend or resell them... FYI, the site is www.editionschorales.com
Reply >>
David Avshalomov on September 17, 2010 6:35
Dear Philip,

I'm one of the self-published whom Greg references. To get my music out to the wonderful universe of choirs (I have over 60 titles for chorus--catalog list available upon request!), I provide free perusal .pdfs of scores to conductors on request. I simply put an Adobe watermark on them, "NOT FOR PERFORMANCE OR PHOTOCOPY USE." I also provide live or demo MP3s on request for those that I have. My updated website (ETA November) will provide these downloads directly to the visitor. And then if they like a work, they can pay for a cheap photocopy license (no charge for cppying covers and back-page catalog lists) and I email the master .pdf *without the watermark, and they pay me for the number of copies they need to make.

As for Parts Predominant/Practice music files, those are a little labor intensive to make, but I have done so on request. I am still waiting for the MIDI industry to create a MIDI mapping/reader for syllables/vowels/consonants/formants from text underlay in MIDI lines set to a vocal sound (remember MacinTalk?). There is a program that captures these as digital sound bites (recorded by the Seattle Symphonic Choir, I believe, and I hope they get royalties for all the work they and other choirs might as a result lose for commercial work in future), but you have to play them in in real-time on a keyboard using their proprietary program, which is not set up for counterpoint or different words in different voices at the same time, best for homophony but astonishinly realistic; not mapped to MIDI yet). And I have some moral qualms about using such a thing anyhow, since I am a firm proponent of Live Music Always and Everywhere. (Another thread for another day . . . )

But about the .pdf route, let me make this point: Such is my respect for the culture and community of choral musicians, that it has NEVER occurred to me to worry for a moment that anyone would abuse this arrangement (pay for one copy, make 30; or sell them to someone else, etc.) I still sing as a section leader and soloist in local concert choirs, and I have more than once sung in a choral rehearsal where we were handedout xerox copies and one of the old-timers has politely asked the choral conductor "Did we pay for this one?" Etc. So I am happy with how this works, so far, and conductors seem happy with the less expensive option. And I don't spend hours slaving over a hot Xerox machine (I don't sell 1000s of anything--yet!--so I don't do print runs, mostly just-in-time.) (I spend enough time and/or money on engraving already. The fun part is making up the new music!)

My one problem: Perfectionism about physical production of parts/scores. I find that most performing groups (also instrumental) either don't know how or don't have the patience to make 11 x 17 booklets, two-sided, as photocopy masters for nice folded 8 1/2 x 11 booklets on sturdy (Staples Premium) paper--(or even--my own invention--the folded legal-size sheet, which makes a decent small-type 7 x 8 "mocktavo"). They typically just copy the pages backed up on the cheapest letter-size paper and staple them at the side, which makes for an awkward edge-folding problem for the singer. But I have decided, if they are content, I can let that be.

(And of course the related issue with bands and orchestras is that their librarians really want 9 x 12 page sizes, which unfortunately means expensive custom-cut paper etc. That's been a thread on the OrchestraLIst a dozen times. I deal with that by trying to use slightly larger music font settings and wider vertical spacing/fewer staves per page on letter paper.)

We do what we can to make it easy for our wonderful music to get out there to you and be sung and heard and enjoyed!

Best regards,

David Avshalomov
davshalomov@earthlink.net
310-480-9525

Reply >>
Bryson Mortensen on September 17, 2010 6:55
Its coming! There are several publishers that are picking it up, like plum publishing (focusing on sacred, church-choir like music) and several composers are putting together their own websites and self-publishing their music exactly that way. I have entire set of bookmarks dedicated to composers who self-publish so I can keep track of their music.

Other evidence that we are "getting there" is that several publishers (Walton, Colla Voce, etc.) are FINALLY posting PDF samples of their scores with audio samples. Now I don't have to order every song that looks interesting to decide whether or not I like it or subscribe to the new publications...they're getting there.
Reply >>
Christina Hemphill on September 17, 2010 6:56
Downloading music is fast but not always cheap for a choir director at a church. Let's assume a choir director, being an honest one, orders 20 copies of "Night of Silence" from GIA music. The downloadable version is $2.00. The shipped hard copy is $2.00. Outside a time concern, why would I pay $2.00 per copy for a downloadable version that I have to use my own ink and paper in order to print the copies for the choir. I checked several songs between the GIA and OCP publishers and I found no monetary difference between downloadable choral versions and shipped ones.

The "Kindle" idea isn't a good one for me, personally. If I understand them correctly, you can't write on them or add markings to the documents held within them. I don't have one, so I don't know this for certain. I find reading music from a screen difficult on my eyes, (I'm old,) which highlights another concern with my using them. Are they even practical to read from a choir perspective considering the changes in screen resolution when read from anything but straight onward?

The licenses to print music from GIA and OCP are for congregation parts only. Accompaniments and arrangements, (octavos) still have to be purchased separately. The CCLI license covers several songs with lead charts, few with keyboard accompaniments, some with a few choral parts, but you aren't going to find octavos available from them and within the use of their license. (They may have added this though since I last had a license with them.)

I have noticed a few publishers offer rehearsal CD's. Of course, these rehearsal CD's are an extra expense and having never purchased one, I don't know if they are simply an accompaniment track or are the individual parts played. And of course, making your own rehearsal CD's requires copyright permissions and the paying of fees and...

What I really find exasperating are those publishing houses that offer booklets for the congregation to use. They have accompaniment books that are expensive, instrumentalist books that are also expensive, but no choir books that match the yearly accompaniment books. In order to add even basic SATB harmony to hymns, you either have to purchase octavo versions, or purchase two to three different choir books they also sell, in the hopes they contain some of the songs offered in the yearly booklet, or make copies of those hymns in the public domain from the accompaniment books. Even with the latter I run into copyright issues. Most of the "public domain" hymns they use have been arranged into new accompaniments, having altered a note or two so they can claim copyright on that version of that public domain hymn, thus making copies of it from their accompaniment book illegal.

I am new to choralnet.org. Thank you for "rediscussing" this subject as it is the first time for me to read it. It is nice to find a place to express my frustration with publishers and copyright without being labeled a trouble maker, a title I've earned when I adamant about using legal copies.

Reply >>
Abbie Betinis on September 17, 2010 8:44
Great discussion! As a self-publisher myself (selling between 4-5 thousand scores a year) I'm finding my business is still too small to make much profit but just big enough to be taking up all my time. That said, I really enjoy the job!

So far I'm dealing primarily with printed and bound sheet music, shipping rates, inventory, and all that goes with it. But with such a high overhead, and a seemingly-endless demand for the music, I'm currently scheming about ways to go digital.

What I worry most about is related to Terry Taylor's point (above):

Sales reports indicated that 75% of purchases were for one copy of a title, indicating most directors bought the one copy, displayed the text, and taught the music by rote, rather than buying a copy for every singer. The composers received little royalty, and the company did not survive.

While most of my music would be difficult to teach by rote, I do worry about ensembles buying one copy and photocopying it. It has happened a few times to me, where I've found out through a friend-of-a-friend, etc, that a group is performing my music without having purchased the scores. And that kind of disregard feels very personal to me -- makes my stomach turn, as if having put my whole heart and soul into writing the music is still not enough.

One solution: I love love love Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory's new publishing model (www.caldwellandivory.com), stamping a personalized license on each PDF copy that identifies the buyer and how many copies they are licensed to make.

The biggest question to me is: How much security is necessary for downloadable PDF choral scores? To conductors: Does a license like Caldwell & Ivory's encourage honesty? -- or are you tempted to buy one copy and run eagerly to the photocopier?

What about international buyers, where I'm told illegal PDF sharing is more rampant?

The radio show "Marketplace" on American Public Media recently ran a show about audio downloads and piracy. It was interesting to me because they deduced that most people who pirated digital goods (software, mp3s, etc) did so because they truly thought their measly payment wouldn't make a difference, would never get to the [artist, singer, software designer], and stole it as an attempt to "stick it to big business." So I'm curious about this: If ensembles knew they were supporting an artist directly with each sale, would that encourage honesty in digital download sales? Or is there so much disillusionment with the music publishing industry now that consumers feel they deserve a break?

Thank you Philip, and everyone here, for having this discussion!

Abbie Betinis
Reply >>
Terrence Liverkey on September 17, 2010 15:04
Love this topic. With the risk of collateral damage that comes from oversimplification; allow me to oversimplify.

I see the transition as inevitable. It's simply utilizing technology to make things more efficient. The current model won't work for much longer.

Choir directors rarely have the budgets (for whatever reason(s) to sustain the current model of paying publishers, distributors and shipping costs; which is why so many of them duplicate.

$1.95/score X 50 = director pays 97.50 (S/H) composers make $9.75

I champion the composers who make their music available for digital delivery and at a MUCH cheaper cost. The cost savings by making things more efficient can benefit the choir directors (which will motivate them to stop copying) And there will still be plenty of money left over for the composer - a much higher percentage than they would have received by selling through current means.

$.40/score X 50 = director pays 20.00 (no S/H) composers make $20.00

This new model is disrupted if the composer's try to sell their PDF's for the same (or near) publisher's costs. But I see it happening. We have to have a shift in the mindsets of the purchasers (conductors) and the composers in terms of what the price tag actually means.

I've removed the costs of website development and promotion because those variables are varied based on a particular composers personal abilities.

The pendulum will shift as it has done in the music industry, it will be somewhat of a messy transition, but it's inevitable.
Reply >>
Reginald Unterseher on September 19, 2010 7:50
I placed an order for music this very morning, and "WILL BACKORDER" appeared on 3 of the 4 titles. Ridiculous.

I wrote an article for the Northwest ACDA web site on this subject last year, kind of a "future history" of the transition away from the traditional paper publishing model. I think it is coming faster than we think.

http://www.nwacda.org/news-com-unterseher%20article-1-16-09.html

Reginald Unterseher
www.reginaldunterseher.com
Reply >>
Abbie Betinis on September 19, 2010 14:38
Mr. Unterseher you are a hero to me! I read your article last spring when it was linked to a different ChoralNet posting on the subject. I've shared it with many people through the link on your website. I love especially how optimistic and positive your writing is -- it really makes this shift seem possible. Would love to speak with you more about it if you're up for it. (Or any of you for that matter!)

Abbie Betinis
http://www.abbiebetinis.com/contact.html
Reply >>
Michael McGlynn on September 20, 2010 7:42
Just one story, related to this topic. My choir, Anuna, recorded a new piece of mine last week, and one of the singers insisted on using his iPad, or iPork as we call it unaffectionately.
He stood for 5 hours holding this in his hand. I suspect that he was making a point, but considering that the item is
1. Silent
2. Scrollable
3. Backlit
4. Portable [well, sort of, and he is around 6 foot 1, and a marathon runner]
then this is something we should all sit up and acknowledge for the future. Digital paper is that future...

Michael McGlynn
www.michaelmcglynn.com
www.anuna.ie
Reply >>

Chicago Symphony's Festa Muti

On Sunday September 19th, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra presented ”Festa Muti”-- a free concert in Millenium Park to celebrate the beginning of Ricardo Muti's tenure as music director. The event was handled with great creativity and there were added touches to make the crowd feel wanted and wooed to come hear the symphony under Muti this season. Free small versions of the Chicago Tribune were passed out featuring articles about Muti and the CSO, large Festa Muti lapel buttons were handed out as well as Festa Muti pennants.

Even with the threat of rain, the turnout for the event was huge (I just read an article estimating the crowd as numbering 25,000!). We arrived a couple hours beforehand and claimed a great spot on the lawn. Aidan settled in to playing Yuhgio and chess by himself while I did a little reading. About an hour before the main event a youth choir and orchestra performed a bit. Finally, at 5:30, and with the crowd control people actually closing off the main lawn because it was so packed, the main event began. People continued to arrive and were packed standing room only 20-30 people thick on the outskirts of the main area, with even more people claiming any space in the outer area of the park they could find. Even with this enormous crowd I saw no one getting frazzled or rude- the vibe of the event was very celebratory!

The program began with Verdi's overture to La Forza del Destino, played with some lovely nuanced phrases. The strings were simply elegant throughout and it was the kind of sweet phrasing both of long lines and individual notes you would never have heard from former director Daniel Barenboim (okay, I've dissed him once now...and now we will move on). Next was Liszt's Les Preludes, not a real fave of mine, yet it was played with a very rich tone especially from the brass. The orchestra took a short break and then returned with Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet. Again, not a favorite of mine, but I was pleased that it seemed like all the hackneyed, cliched approaches to this music had disappeared and for me it was kind of like hearing this piece for the first time in a sense, thanks to Muti's fresh reading of the score. All the drame was still there but there was no schmaltz- what a delight. I also felt that the usual divvying up and tossing of phrases from orchestral family group to family group that Tchaikovsky does so much that it is truly annoying, wasn't so obvious with Muti's approach. As I type this I'm sure how he did this, it's not like he rewrote the score.

Finally, the finale-- Respighi's Pines of Rome. I've always wanted to hear this piece live- it's such a hoot and full of amazing orchestration touches. The whole orchestra seemed really alive and each section of the piece was painted with vivid colors. The solo clarinet and flute passages were truly lovely and the offstage trumpet solo was gorgeous.

Overall, the symphony's strings sounded great all day, the brass were rich and full without ever being raucous (a sometimes complaint in the Solti golden era), and the woodwinds were fine (although a little pitchy, Dawg, in the last exposed woodwind choir of the Tchaikovsky...maybe blame the weather and humidity?). I felt that Muti's interpretations were impeccable, they were even slightly understated and he never just went for sweet schmaltz or bombastic noise, which could certainly be a temptation with a huge event like this. He truly brought out the best in each piece, and created both great musical lines and well constructed arches – in other words, he understood both the micro and macro elements of each piece-- what else could any composer hope for?

After the final chord of the Respighi rang out the audience leaped to their feet for a long ovation, Muti thanked the audience and cracked a few jokes, and then there was a surprise mini-fireworks show set off around the perimeter of the main lawn area. This was such a surprise, and young and old had looks of glee on their face as the fireworks went off all around us. What a great surprise.

So, I wasn't really intending on writing a concert review so much as honoring the fact hat the CSO and Muti wanted to put on this event and handled it so beautifully and with so much fresh creativity. This was a celebration of the CSO, of the city and the park, of Muti, of the people and it was an amazing success. Back in the 1970's and 80's when Georg Solti was virtually as well-known in Chicago (and even around the world) as Micheal Jordan, the city was hugely proud of this symphony and its accomplishments. It was sad to see the downfall of that with the hiring of Barenboim, whose personality both musically and personally was a terrible fit. The CSO musicians did the best they could under his tenure,yet the little dark cloud always hanging over then CSO president Henry Fogel's beloved “Danny” was always there. Probably the best thing that happened during that time was the orchestra's ability to work closely with Pierre Boulez year after year, and Boulez-led performances were always great. With Fogel's retirement, brilliant new president Deborah Rutter was able to quickly send Barenboim packing and reinvent the symphony and position it for new successes. The vibe we're hearing now is that the players love Muti, have always loved Muti, and things are going to be amazing. I wish them all the success in the world and thank them for a wonderful day in the park!

P.S. I just remembered that amidst Muti's thank yous to the audience and light banter was also this: he stated that the symphony is intent on reaching out to those people in the community who cannot, for whatever reason, come to them. In other words, a newly voiced commitment to outreach placed on record in front of thousands. I am truly pleased that he said this, and let's hope that all of us in this classical music world can do the same. We need to share this great music with everyone- not just the rich and educated club who already know about it. We need to get rid of, or reeducate, the classical music snobs and do this right, and especially reach out to young people (actually I was disappointed that I saw very few children at the event Sunday). We're seeing it with Gustavo Dudamel in South America and now in LA, musical ambassadors like Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin, and hopefully here a renewed effort in Chicago. Barenboim adamantly refused to do this sort of thing- yet Muti truly wants to do it- BRAVO!

P.P.S. Aidan's excited response to the bravura ending of Pines of Rome and the fireworks, "Daddy, they should just keep playing now, play every song in the universe!"

Seraphic Fire and Western Michigan University recording

A great story I'm reposting from ChoralNet - and what the future holds- more and more creative people will "do it themselves" instead of kowtowing to publishers, record companies and the like:



Releasing it yourselves: Seraphic Fire, WMU, and Monteverdi
Date: August 29, 2010
by Philip Copeland
All of the record labels turned them down, so they released it themselves. And now, the recording is tops on iTunes.

Patrick Quigley told ChoralNet about it on Monday. I thought it needed a little more prominence, so here is the story:

From WMU News:

A new compact disc by the Western Michigan University Chorale in collaboration with the professional singing ensemble Seraphic Fire has climbed to the top of the iTunes classical recordings charts, displacing new releases by the likes of Yo-Yo Ma and the London Symphony Orchestra.

The recording of Claudio Monteverdi's 1610 masterpiece, "Vespers of the Blessed Virgin," also known as the "1610 Vespers," was released on iTunes last week, immediately landing in the Top 10 classical recordings and prompting National Public Radio to feature the CD and the story behind its creation on the program "All Things Considered."

"It's really an amazing story," says Dr. James Bass, who just left WMU after serving as director of choral studies. "I'm so proud of the students at Western."

Here is the NPR story.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129321950&ft=1&f=1039

Western Art Music: Is it more than just "pretty"?

Here’s a blog entry I have been meaning to write for over a year. It has to do with my gifted high school choir at the North Carolina Governor’s School (East) last summer (2009) in Raleigh, NC. As part of this six week intensive summer program, I brought in a number of guest teachers- one of them was the wonderful person who was instrumental in me getting the job in 2009, Lisa Fredenburgh (now the new director of choral studies at Aurora College in Aurora, IL).




(Lisa Fredenburgh)


As we began the second week of classes last summer, Lisa was in town and volunteered to come talk to the students on a topic of her choice. She chose to explore the question, “Is Western art music socially relevant and of importance in today’s society?” So, with that topic in hand, Lisa began talking to the students and trying to get their opinions. For awhile they were pretty timid, and I even had to challenge them out loud to get the energy of the discussion going (after all, Governor's School is supposed to be populated by strong thinkers with great verbal skills). So things picked up a bit but we kept getting painted into this corner with the opinion that the main thing about classical music is that “it’s pretty”. At this point Lisa and I were ready to gag, and started sending each other non-verbal cues that we both were disappointed with where things were going. So, Lisa started by challenging them more, and played the Barber Adagio for Strings in the “Agnus Dei” choral version, and we pointed out that this music had great emotional depth and had been used as music to commemorate Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy and many other public figures. We then talked a bit about similar 20th century music which was used to enhance cathartic moments in news documentaries about the 9/11/2001 disaster, especially in scenes showing grief or bravery (music by Aaron Copland, Joan Tower, and others). We were starting to get somewhere, but hadn’t won over everyone. Many in the room still thought that classical music really just strove to be pretty, and that the Barber was still part of that- beautiful music which happened to have great emotional depth.

At this point, I took a chance and thought I could really shake them up; I was able to talk to Lisa really quickly without them hearing me, and she queded up Penderecki’s Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima; we did NOT tell them the title, we just started the music. If you know this piece you are certainly aware of a number of things- the first most obvious thing is that this is not traditional music, it has no melodies and relies on extended, very noisy, string orchestra extended technique effects (we didn’t care that this was not a choral piece). Many of the students would have never hear d a piece of music like this before, and as long as they had no chance to tune the oddness out, I felt that it could overwhelm them with its visceral not beautiful soundworld. I myself had forgotten that the piece is about nine minutes, I thought I was only subjecting them to 4-5 minutes of this very stringent music. What immediately happened is that the room completely quieted, and heads went down, and you could sense peoples stomachs knotting, The emotional tension in the music was so strong that the students didn’t even need to know the title of the piece. And I fact, I was overcome with the power of this music and the horrific scene it paints, as I had not listened to it for years and simply was very vulnerable to its effect. Memories of photos I had seen of this terrible episode in our history flooded my mind and I had to leave the room and go out to the courtyard right outside as all of a sudden I felt I could not handle this in front of my students. It’s just what happened-- I had no control over it. I seem to be way more susceptible to emotional content these days and I suppose that’s a good thing- it means I have let down my walls but it also means that things can hit you pretty hard. Part of me wishes I had not left the room toward the end of the piece, that I had stayed there stoically, yet I also wanted this listening experience to be for them- not for me to have a breakdown and for that to distract them!



(Penderecki around the time of the composition of Threnody)

When the piece ended I came back into room. We discussed what we had heard, and the students’ comments were very emotional yet also very strongly intellectual as well. They were overwhelmed by this music and experiencing it changed them for life- many of them said this to us straight out. We eventually told them the title and then it became even more powerful for them. For the rest of the summer, we all recognize4d that this was the breakthrough day that changed the attitude of all of them toward Western art music-we all now agreed that much of it is “pretty”, but some if it is the most powerful, emotional art capable of making dramatic commentary on society. When Lisa and I looked back on where the conversation with the students had started and then where it ended up we were both astounded. We had not really intended winding up where we did, b but it happened and we were so pleased that we had gone on this journey with these students over 75 minutes time.

A few weeks later we started singing an incredible piece by Robert Jager called I dream of peace, about the genocide in 1990’s Yugoslavia. Exploring the history of that extended piece and creating a stunning, memorable performance of it was really not too difficult for these young singers, for they had already experienced looking at music like this with new eyes, ears, and souls.

So that’s what happened in early June in 2009 at NC Governor’s School:32 bright young high school students discovered for themselves that Western art music is amazingly profound, alive and well in the 21st century.

Thanks Lisa!

[Also a big thank you has also to go out to dear Mary Alice Stollak, who exposed me to the Robert Jager I dream of peace, which she programmed for her MSU Children’s Choir farewell concert in Spring 2009 which I attended]

Who's Still Looking for Repertoire?

Hi choral director friends,

I hope you are all geared up for the new school year and concert season. I'm pretty excited about some guest conducting/composing appearances I have this year in Pittsburgh, Flagstaff, and Hong Kong, plus four new pieces in print in time for the national ACDA conference here in Chicago. I hope to see you there!

If you are still searching for repertoire for this year, I'd like to suggest a few extended works of mine. These were commissioned pieces with very successful premieres and a few performances after that. But because of their length most every publisher has shied away from putting them into print, thus the need for me to personally advocate for them to receive further performances. In general I think the texts I discovered to set are amazing, and the imagery and content of these texts really inspired my writing. Let me know if you would like to see perusal scores, and most of them already have some sample pages up on my website at www.paulcarey.net

El Limonar Florido (The Lemon Grove in Blossom) SATB/solo violin/solo cello. 4 movements, about 15 minutes. Gorgeous Spanish texts by Antonio Machado. Choral parts not difficult.

Missa Brevis Incheon SATB div a cappella. A bravura 16 minute work commissioned by the Incheon City Chorale and premiered by them in Seoul last fall. Here's a challenge for a university or professional choir.

Endless Worlds SATB div a cappella. Wonderful texts about music and nature by Tagore. This was commissioned by an ambitious high school choir and they pulled it off. About 15minutes.

Into this World (Four Choral Seasons) SATB/piano. Four texts suggesting the seasons of nature and of our lives. A really sweet, lyrical 16 minute piece. The texts are by Elinor Wylie, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rainer Marie Rilke, and Natalie Goldberg

1944 SATB/string orchestra, or strings one to a part. Highly imaginative WWII text by Hilda Doolittle (HD). The text actually suggested tying in elements of the Bach Christmas Oratorio. I admit it's a slightly odd piece with the war and slight Christmas element, but that's just the way it turned out!

The Bethlehem Star SATB divisi a cappella. This was a Christmas work commission from Nancy Menk and the South Bend Chamber Singers. About 18 minutes with great texts by Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Winter's Night Carol SATB(SA)/brass quintet. Thus was a Christmas work commission by an adult choir who had a children's choir associated with them, so there is a children's choir element but it can be easily taken by some of the women of an SATB choir. A very nice recent performance by Illinois Wesleyan University. Nine minutes long with text by Thomas Merton.

Two shorter recent pieces: Voices of Earth SATB/piano. Not difficult and very lyrical, commissioned by Briar Cliff University as part of their ”Care for Creation” initiative this past year.

Prairie Songs SATB/piano. 5 minutes and no divisi. Sweet Americana text by Carl Sandburg. Fun elements of Scott Joplin, Ives, and Copland in the mix.

There you have it- a whole bunch of pieces with great texts and the best music I could think of in setting them, and of course, almost no chance of conventional publication (sigh). Let me know if you'd like to consider any of these pieces for performance!

Best wishes,

Paul

Guest Clinicians at N Carolina Governor's School East choir

Things have been crazy busy here at the North Carolina Governor’s School East choir program. It’s been hard to keep up with everything and still find time to blog. In addition, I have received two wonderful new commissions in recent weeks, so I have been trying to find time to work on the one I have already started, and at least start mulling over the other.

Anyway, I would like to relate stories about all the guests I have had in to talk to or work with the students. This has been extremely valuable in two ways; one, they gain valuable insight from skilled, experienced adults on a variety of topics that pertain to their singing, vocal health, and music-making, and 2) it allows me to not be stressing their voices with too many hours of rehearsal per week (we technically have anywhere from 150-195 minutes of rehearsal time per day on the school calendar, but obviously that would cause really ragged voices in HS students).

Our first guest, way back in week one, was my good friend Lisa Fredenburgh who will start a new job as director of choral studies at Aurora College in Illinois. Lisa volunteered to work with these students for a day and a half in group vocal tech lessons. About 60% of them had never had a private voice lesson, so this day and a half from Lisa was great for them. She really stressed posture and breathing “from the back”, which really was a great image for them. She also worked a lot with them to envision a shape to the sound within the mouth and how that sound would project out. this was great instruction from a wonderful, positive person.

Our next guest was Leda Scearce, from the Duke Vocal Health Clinic. Leda presented all the facts any young singer should know about their voice and how to take care of them. She showed photos of damaged larynxes, videos of vocal folds in action, and imparted great wisdom about how to treat your “instrument”- one of her biggest concerns was that young singers should plan vocal rest into their day. To me, this was important, as Lisa Fredenburgh had already told me she felt that in our environment here, Susan Fetch (my assistant ) and I are already treating their voices with respect in rehearsals (full, well-planned warm-ups, no extra stress in the AM, de-emphasis on pressing down with the voice) and that any tired or strained voice issues are happening out on the quad, through too many hours on cellphones, and so on. Leda emphasized over and over that singers need rest, water, good nutrition, a better approach to their vocal use throughout the day, and many other things.

Our next guest was a young tenor who caught my eye at the Longleaf Opera aria competition, Jonathan Blalock. Jonathan placed second in that competition which we all attended, and I was able to get him in for two days to do even more vocal tech with our singers, and I was especially interested in him working with the guys (the ladies did get his attention as well). Jonathan stressed the importance of breath and breath management. He really helped many of the singers find more breath support connected to the sound and the ability to move air in appositive way. Of course I didn’t want these teenagers trying to sound like Jonathan and that was said out loud to them. What we did want them to emulate was the connection of all the elements in his vocal production, and developing an ear for when things feel right and sound right. Jonathan has a great live voice and a wonderfully engaging personality- so he was an excellent role model for them, since he is only about ten years older than they are. He is now off to Israel for some great opera roles.

Our next guest was Shawn Copeland, a professional clarinetist and also an Alexander Technique instructor. We were able to work with Shawn for an entire day and it was amazing. He taught physiology to the students and dispelled all sorts of misconceptions they had about their body and its physique (ably assisted by “George”, Shawn’s full skeletal model). Shawn decided to work mostly on the body mapping element of Alexander Technique but he did get into hands-on work with almost every singer in the room. He was able to reinvent posture and carriage for almost every singer, in some cases drastically improving their posture and their awareness of how they habitually hold their bodies. Wow, this day was amazing.

Dan Huff, head of music ed at UNC, Chapel Hill, visited us and talked to the students about careers in music and how to choose a music college. Dan’s presentation was extremely valuable to these students.

We also worked with the multi-talented Tigger Benford, a percussionist who teaches musicians and dancers in a very creative way. For our one session with Tigger, I chose for him to work with them on body percussion. After a few simple things, Tiger stepped up the challenge, and the students were expected to be able to use their hands, arms, feet, and whole bodies to learn (by rote) a whole series of rhythms, many of which were outside their usual area of competence (cross rhythms you would not usually run across in western music). This was a great Governor’s School moment-- a few kids wanted to give up, but I told them just keep going. No one said everything was easy in life (right?!). And the fact that this was a bit of a struggle for some of them was a good thing. I was proud that the 2-3 kids who sort of wanted to give up stepped right back into the fray of what Tigger was challenging them with. Another pearl of wisdom from Tigger that they won’t hear in their HS classroom: beat one is not always the start of everything, in fact in much music , things lead into beat one (and back out of it) , so it is just an arrival point, not just a disconnected, blatantly strong beat.

Our final guest, via Skype, was the wonderful choral composer Joan Szymko. We are working on her 2010 ACDA Brock commissioned piece “All Works of Love”, with a very simple text by Mother Teresa. Over an hour-long Skype session, Joan answered some great questions from the kids, and gave them many moments of heartfelt wisdom about the meaning of music, how texts and music compel us to think deeply about who we are, and so on. The students questions were well thought out, and Joan’s answers were brilliant. This was an amazing opportunity for young people to talk directly t to a living composer about a recent work which has been premiered to great praise. We will be singing Joan’s piece July 23rd on our final concert, and I think this personal connection with the composer will make our performance so much more meaningful.

So there you have it, a bunch of all-star guests who shared their love of music and lots of the technical things they have worked so hard to discover in their careers. To be 16 or 17 years old and gain all these insights over six weeks time was truly invaluable for these students.

Help us Help a School in Haiti

Greetings all – especially to those of you who have been directed here so that you could read my semi-annual updates of what I am doing in the music world.
I usually try to update you on new pieces I am writing, or pieces just released by my publishers, or some traveling or guest conducting I am doing. This time I am going to write something that is not so much about me-me-me; and ask you read all the way to the end if you can.

I am in Raleigh, North Carolina teaching the 32 gifted choral students at the North Carolina Governor’s School East ( www.ncgse.org ) on the campus of Meredith College. The NC Governor’s School selects 600 of the brightest high school students in ten discipline areas from all over the state and brings them together for a six week intensive summer experience where there are no grades; just the challenge of concentrated work in their main area, as well as amazing explorations of learning in new areas for each student. This is a place where students can be (as we say here) “nerds, geeks, and artsy freaks” to the hilt without being self-conscious about it, and where the unofficial motto is “try, fail, fail better”. In other words, we give these kids freedom to not have to worry about maintaining an immaculate GPA and we throw daunting, yet cool projects their way and let them solve them without our help. It’s all great fun, very challenging and yet exhausting in a good way for six weeks.

When I was at the ACDA conference in Cincinnati this past spring I heard Ethan Sperry’s great group from Miami University of Ohio sing music from Haiti, as arranged by Sten Kallman. I was blow away by this soulful music and corralled Ethan one evening. I found out that these pieces would soon be out in his earthsongs series and I immediately decided we had to sing them at NC Governor’s School.So that is what we are doing-- we just sang one of those pieces June 30th and July 1st (titled Freo—O Brother) to very enthusiastic packed-house audiences and we will add “Gede Nibo” soon to our repertoire. The students love this music and have totally connected to it musically and spiritually. We have also been highly successful in singing it with pretty authentic tone colors for this folk music.

Sometimes things in the world align, and here is what developed here over the last three weeks—I met the new French teacher and she is fluent in Creole and is teaching her French students “Nawlins” and Haitian Creole. We’ve put our classes together and learned more about Haiti, both past and present. We then realized that the grassroots environmentalist Dave Chameides ( www.365daysoftrash.blogspot.com ) was visiting our school to not only speak about the environment (we know him as Trash Dave for his speeches to us about how wasteful Americans are; he also owns two Emmys for his work as a TV cameraman), but also would give a short talk to our students about his trip to Haiti just two weeks after the earthquake(visit www.dchaiti.blogspot.com).Most of my students attended that short talk.

You can see all these things coming together, because Lesley Curtis (the French teacher) and I had started to talk about our classes doing a service project together. Lesley knows two American teachers who were in Haiti when the earthquake happened, and one of them actually knows a school whose building was destroyed and still hopes to start school in some way in a few months and that is in dire need of school supplies for two hundred students.

So Lesley and I hinted to the students that we should do more than just be scholars, or practice room shut-ins (hope you agree on that!); and that we should do something for the world. And our students really grasped this idea- that they, even as teens, could step up and do something important to help others.

So here is what is happening-- that school in Haiti (they have a brand new 501c3 website www.korebel.org set up by friends in NYC) has given us a modest list of school supply needs for their 200 students. All they are hoping for is a packet for each student consisting of:

three spiral notebooks
three black pens and three red pens
ten pencils & one eraser
one ruler

Dave told us he decided to help in Haiti in a number of ways- but one of them specifically was to find a way to give to people directly and make a personal connection. There’s nothing wrong in giving money to Red Cross, for instance, but he wanted to make his connection personal. This is what we at N. Carolina Governor’s School East choral music and French class want to do; make it personal. We are going to try to donate these supplies by ourselves, and also through the parents, through the community, through pleas to OfficeMax or Staples, or any way we can. When get the supplies all gathered together we also intend to write personal notes to the people at the school and put them in the supply packages as well. And maybe we can record our Haitian music on a CD and they can hear us sing THEIR music as best as we can. By the way, you can see pictures of the Korebel students, the ruins of the school and efforts to keep teaching the children amidst the runs by clicking here www.korebel.org/media

This is where you can help if you would like to join us. I have spoken to the NC Governor’s School East director, an amazing person and historian named Dr. Michael McElreath about this goal. He tells me that if any of you in the US choral world would like to contribute to this cause, you could write a check to us and we will buy more and more supplies for this school and try to overwhelm them with kindness. We also feel that it would be silly for you to mail us school supplies, because we would still have to ship them again to Haiti. That’s why we are hoping some of you will want to mail us a check to help this cause.

I am hoping that ChoralNet/ACDA will publicize this and help build this. I think folks there like Philip Copeland and Tim Sharp are great people who want our music to be more than just mere notes on a page; and that our singing should bring joy and uplift people and that we really must work harder in our field to make what we do be of further impact in the world. All of the recent growth and energetic new leadership at ChoralNet and at ACDA are amazing me. I think there is a groundswell of newly focused energy in the American choral world, and that is what I am trying to tap into in as big a way as possible. Who knows, what we do here in Raleigh for this project and what you might contribute might overwhelm this small school in Haiti to the point that they will need to share the newfound abundance with other schools nearby. How amazing would that be?

So if I have touched a nerve within you, here is how you make a donation (hopefully a bit before we finish the session July 24th):
Checks should be written to “NC Governor's School East" and put "Haiti school supplies" on the memo line.

Mail your contribution ASAP (any size appreciated) to:

Dr. Michael McElreath
NC Governor’s School East
3800 Hillsborough Av
Raleigh, NC
27607


Thanks in advance for anything you might want to contribute!

Best wishes,

Paul

Lagniappe!

Lagniappe @ N. Carolina Governor’s School East

Lagniappe (Louisiana Creole): to give something extra, an unexpected bonus given freely (like a thirteenth donut when asking for a dozen)

Mark Twain writes about the word in Life on the Mississippi: he called it "a word worth traveling to New Orleans to get":

We picked up one excellent word — a word worth travelling to New Orleans to get; a nice limber, expressive, handy word — "lagniappe." We discovered it at the head of a column of odds and ends in the Picayune the first day; heard twenty people use it the second; inquired what it meant the third; adopted it and got facility in swinging it the fourth. It is something thrown in, gratis, for good measure.When a child or a servant buys something in a shop he finishes the operation by saying — "Give me something for lagniappe." The shopman always responds; gives the child a bit of licorice, gives the servant a cheap cigar or a spool of thread. When you are invited to drink, and this does occur now and then in New Orleans — and you say, "What, again? — no, I've had enough;" the other party says, "But just this one time more — this is for lagniappe."

So Lagniappe is now in its second year at GSE- led by our director Michael McElreath and our French teachers last year and this year who are really into Creole, both Haitian and ‘Nawlins style. And our version of Lagniappe is this- not only do we work our tails off teaching these gifted kids Monday through Saturday, but we also give them Lagniappe night- an evening when our goal is to entertain them with the creative things we are doing in our careers and in our explorations, whether really serious or just interesting dabbling. It’s all presented as performance, and even the teachers who aren’t really performers (like natural science folks and math folks) take a shot a being stage personas.

So tonight Lagniappe included the following, in no particular order--the instrumental faculty dressed in jammies and lounging on a beat-up sofa gradually launching into John Cage’s Living Room Music; a video of Bill Fick doing some amazing print-making processes accompanied by a weirded- out Conlon Nancarrow piano track with improv added in by percussionist Billy Bialecki; a dance contact improv by dance teachers Karen Ivey and James Healey to a slightly modified track of Moon River, with an added live video feed, creating interaction between the dancers, their video images and cameraman; a magical holographic art demonstration by Gavin Hackeling; a poetry reading by Chuck Sullivan which tied directly into thoughts from the Thursday night Holocaust guest speaker; and much more. My presentation was pretty low-tech to begin with, and became even lower tech when we had the one tech snafu of the night when the cam projector failed. So I went into talk to the audience without tech mode, involved the audience a bit as I introduced the background of my choral setting of May Swenson’s witty and wonderfully humorous poem Summer’s Bounty and then we listened to a performance of the piece. The students laughed at the funny spots (yes it’s funny for sure, how could 300 HS students not laugh when they hear a choir sing about "nuts"?) and the tiny tech failure made no difference. In fact, later on, some colleagues complimented me for not flaking out over it, and just talking directly to the audience- their comments made feel nice.

So Lagniappe was a big success—the students in the audience had no idea what to expect as we told them really nothing about what this was- but we for sure gave them that thirteenth donut. I think the students here now realize fully that their faculty is weird but yeah, also really talented and totally thinking outside the box. We’re really just them with some years added on. And maybe next year we should have free popcorn for them- that would for sure be Lagniappe!

North Carolina Governor's School East- Wrapping up Week Two

N. Carolina Governor’s School East: The Rest of Week One and Week Two

Well I have fallen behind on blogging- forgive me as I have two rehearsals per day, meetings, consults, leading some informal chess electives, you name it- the days get filled to the brim for students and faculty a like here. That’s a good thing until the sleep deprivation starts happening, and that can become a big issue for these students who have never pushed through that sort of thing like an adult has.

So here we go- hit and miss on topics as I pick up where I left off. We had two wonderful days with my friend Lisa Fredenbrugh as visiting clinician. Lisa did a full day of vocal tech with the kids- a big eye opener for us was her idea of thinking of breathing from your back, not some more frontward breathing point in the belly/diaphragm.I think the reason this works is that it makes you more aware of your intercostal muscles being part of the whole breathing process.We also needed work on jutting/moving jaws, and even today a week later another visiting clinician was pointing out that issue to the singers.

My assistant Susan Hahn and I continue to keep working these voices through passagios and on and on into new tessitura territory. Today we had some “altos” singing healthy high B flats(!) as they worked one on one in vocalise with today’s clinician, the very youthful and very talented Jonathan Blalock.
I was glad to see Jonathan place singers on their back on the floor to vocalize. The change in gravity and the feeling in breath support are radically different in this position, and when a singer stood back up and sang again, wow- the sound popped. My first experience with this tool was when I attended a masterclass by Richard Miller (the guru of the scientific approach to singing) a few year ago and he had one of my singer from Vox Caelestis (my professional women’s choir in Chicago at that time) do it. This was a young lady who sure had a wide, slightly odd vibrato for her age which you could see Richard did not like and when he had her do the sing on the floor thing she really had to change her approach to support. And actually, it was the first time she let her guard down and trusted that someone else might know more than she did (Miller would have been about 70 at the time, she was about 25).

This year’s GSE students are very enthusiastic, very smart, and really don’t want to stop singing when the bell rings. Even with eleven rehearsals per week, they would rather just keep going. Of course this becomes an issue in regard to their vocal health. Last Friday we had guest speaker Leda Scearce from the Duke Voice Care Center give them a presentation on keeping their voices healthy. Leda especially stresses the idea of personally planned vocal rest, and that is what I have been working with them on as well. We also are trying to stress to them that what they do in choir is pretty darn healthy- we give them well-designed warm-ups that prepare them for each rehearsal and the day, and we also work with them on connecting more to their bodies, trying to get rid of the Western trap of separating mind and body. What often isn’t healthy is what they do with their voice OUTSIDE of choir-too much cellphone talking, too much yelling on the quad, and too much Broadway or Glee belting when they have some free time near a piano. Many afternoons I ask for a countdown- I countdown from 10 as “my voice is in great shape” down to 1- “uh oh, I have a serious problem”. Anyone raising their hand when I am counting down into the 3-2-1 area is given vocal rest, yet they attend rehearsal and pay attention. Once again, this is a way for us to keep track of the endurance/pacing issue; we have to try to keep HS voices healthy over six weeks in an intense learning environment.

The last day of week one we attended the Longleaf Opera Company’s aria competition. This was an aria competition (hmm, I generally dislike arts competitions) for young artists. The nine semi-finalists we heard on Saturday afternoon were between the ages of 25- 34, i.e. singers just entering their prime. They were all quite good, but certainly some really grabbed your attention. It was wonderful for my 16-17 year olds to see where they might be in ten years. It was also very valuable for them to see storytelling going on, almost always a healthy vocal production (although there were two tired voices trying to compete), and for them to see that every not meant something. I was happy to see that a concept that Richard Miller always stressed, the idea that every note matters and that every note must ring and contain a natural vibrato, were apparent in almost every singer.

A valuable tool for us in week two has been count singing, especially for a spiritual arrangement of mine, Hear de Lambs A-cryin’. Since the melody is slow and has some sustained notes the count singing has helped teach the singers to keep those longer notes from becoming flabby, meaningless, and disconnected from the overall melodic line. For anyone unfamiliar with count singing, it’s a rehearsal technique championed by the late Robert Shaw in which the words are stripped from the piece and replaced by singing the subdivided pulse “1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and” all the way through a piece. By count singing all the eighth notes in a quarter note pulsed pieces (say 4/4) the whole line has meaning and shape, including any long notes. In addition, it becomes very apparent when chords are not tuning. My singers’ reaction to count singing was twofold; I think some of them weren’t that thrilled about it (kind of like getting them to eat their veggies!) but I did notice many of them picking up on the bit by bit benefits of it, as each time we went through it was a little better than the time before (“Baby steps” a la Bill Murray in What about Bob?).

So it’s Sunday morning the 28th now and it’s time to start wrapping up this meandering blog. Tonight the faculty here are presenting something called Lagniappe- which I hope doesn’t mean Long Nap. We each take five minutes to wow the students with whatever we want to present - a mini-lecture, a demonstration of research we might be doing, a work in progress report- underwater ventriloquism- you know, whatever we think might help them realize that the faculty here is smart and cool.

I am going to be talking about my setting of May Swenson’s poem Summer’s Bounty, a wacky poem which is a basketful of deconstructed summertime compound words. For instance morning glories becomes glories of morning, raspberries becomes berries of rasp, and one of my favorites- mushrooms becomes rooms of mush. It also contains a cool chord I stole from the opening of George Gershwin’s overture to Porgy and Bess (see George, at least I tell people where I got it).After I talk about the poem a little we’ll listen to a nice recording of the piece by the Oregon State University Chamber Choir directed by Steven Zielke.

Ciao for now!

North Carolina Governor's School East- Day 2 and 3

Day Two and Three:

I’m blogging here Tuesday night after four sessions (over two days) with my amazing choral students at N. Carolina Governor’s School [Moses Hogan Singers CD on in the background- oh yeah…]

Monday we had two class sessions- my first chance to get to know the students and start inventing our choir. Rather than just pull out scores and rehearse- you know, that same old approach, I had decided that on Sunday I would assign them to bring in a found percussion instrument. So all 32 brought something in and there were some great lil’ instruments- metal water bottles, things which sounded like a guiro, shaker type items like empty plastic water bottles with pebbles inside, the sound an umbrella makes when you open and shut it, and even one student who took a small cardboard box and strung some rubber bands on it, thus creating a mini-ukelele. Then we actually played these things together, added a conga to it, and had some fun making (literally) music.

The afternoon was an exploration of really interesting ideas presented by an extraordinarily talented young percussionist named Billy Bialecki, who is a teaching assistant for the instrumental music department. Billy played some Indian (as in India, the country) folk music which featured some amazingly dexterous warbling of 32^nd notes by a female singer. He went on to work with my choral students in creating creative clapping games, wherein they learned not to rush and truly feel a beat , and then we started to work with them on overtone singing . One our singers is actually already quite proficient in this, but for virtually all of the singers this was new territory (which they loved learning about and trying). We also played a little bit with just trying to build some octaves, fifths and such and listening for higher overtones to “pop” (appear) in the acoustics of the room. These students have pretty rich voices, and once I got them listening some of them could hear what I was hearing- some overtones becoming audible in the room whose actual fundamentals were not being sung. We’ll move into a more resonant space soon and explore this more. One thing I have been amazed by when listening live to European choirs, especially from Scandinavia, is how much they utilize this kind of sound- it seems like US choirs are fairly oblivious to the idea of developing this sound and developing the ears to notice when it actually is happening!

This morning (Tuesday) we continued listening to two mystery tracks- some ethnic music from who knows where- I am trying to get them to figure out the music’s origin and maybe what it is about, what language it is in and so on. So far, Susan (my assistant) is just writing up on the whiteboard what they think is being sung (one slow track, one fast track). Soon I will let them know if their educated guesses are on target or not. Then we’ll probably go ahead and give them the text on the whiteboard (one of our other teachers knows this mystery language, and we’ll pull her in soon to coach it), but we still plan on not handing them the scores until they try to learn it by rote from the recording. Maybe at some point we’ll hand out the scores just to help them confirm a few pitches and such- but by then they will pretty much know the piece already by using- their EARS! This truly is one of my big goals – to lead what is basically seen as a traditional “classical music” choir by teaching them to use their ears, intuition, and community skills and not just be hiding behind musical scores without a real connection to the soul of the music.

This afternoon Susan and I sat and talked about ourselves so that the students would know what we have done and are currently doing in our careers. This is a great thing for them to see, an older fellow who is a composer/conductor doing a lot of work in the field, and a much younger choral teacher to whom they can easily relate to in many ways. We then had a couple students introduce themselves to break the ice and get to know each other. We’ll keep having them intro themselves a few at a time until we get everybody covered. The student’s energy overall is pretty electric- they seem very pumped about Governor’s School and what we are doing as a choir. We then also really quickly did some solfege warm-ups (most seem to know basic solfege-YAY), did some count-singing just for a little while on a piece by me that we had tried out in the morning, and then worked on the fun, yet somewhat challenging rhythms in René Clausen’s Jabberwocky- they really were strong on their counting, Susan and I were very impressed. I then split them into four groups of eight and assigned the groups to take two days on their own time to prepare a play act of the text of Jabberwocky- we’ll see what they come up with. The idea is to get truly inside the story, to make it come alive, etc so that when we sing it all that physical energy of acting it out will be IN the singing.

All in all, Susan and I are pretty blown away by our students' energy level, enthusiasm, and pretty strong vocal skills as well and they really seem to already have the idea of creating a resonant presence to their sound. In general we are not telling them how to do things- we are facilitating them figuring things out, which is a classical GSE (Governor’s School East) approach. When we have my friend Lisa Fredenburgh here all day Thursday and part of Friday they will get a really solid vocal tech group lesson from a great nuts and bolts standpoint, but for now, this is all about letting them discover things either quickly or gradually, and not just telling them what to do. The GSE approach to teaching and learning is what should be happening all across our country- it’s about engagement and directed learning- not adult robots drilling factoids into student robots.

PLUS
#1 We have hardly used the piano in the room
#2. We have been rehearsing in a circle and we just ain’t sitting
(I hate that slouch thing that chairs cause)

MINUS The clock on the wall is ticking too fast- we are having so much fun that I don’t think anyone really wants to stop