A Place In the Choir
Posted at 6:00 AM on December 7, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(23 Comments)
Radio Heartland has tickets to give away to Neal and Leandra's Christmas concert this Friday, December 11th, at the Cedar Cultural Center. We're also marking Radio Heartland's 1st anniversary at the event. We'll allow entries until 1pm tomorrow.
Enter the drawing.
Obey the rules.
Good luck.
I spent part of the weekend in Northfield enjoying the St. Olaf Christmas Festival, a choral spectacular that is in its 98th year. Yesterday's performance was broadcast on MPR's classical music service and will be repeated on December 20th at 6pm.
St. Olaf may be the best known, but it is just one of many colleges around the region mounting Christmas celebrations that highlight the sterling musicianship of their students and faculty. These performances are made possible by strong elementary and high school music programs - long may they survive, especially with the prospect of years of financial cost cutting at all levels of government.
My high school choir in Illinois would have benefitted from some targeted cuts - if only they had managed to remove me from the group. I was one of the guys who spent too little time paying attention and too much time cracking jokes and drawing cartoons on the sheet music. We were Silver Carp in the Lake Michigan of choral scholarship. Alas, poisoning the river to keep us out was not an option, and our presence made survival questionable for everyone.
It's ironic that when it came time for a performance, I worried more than anyone about being able to stay in step with the group. You'd think after all my spirited goofing around during rehearsals I'd recognize cause-and-effect in operation there, but in order to see that I would've had to pay attention in science class too.
Anxiety was my forte'. I worried about tripping over my robe while climbing up the risers, locking my knees and collapsing in mid-concert like Gary Hutchens did in 8th grade, and forgetting words in mid-song or getting them slightly but obviously wrong.
My worst nightmare scenario always involved an inadvertent solo - which I imagined would come in a moment of inattention during "O Holy Night". Everyone else would be enjoying a respite in the field alongside the shepherds and their sheep, softly contemplating the tragedy of a world "in sin and error pining" and I would plow mindlessly and totally alone into "Fall On Your Knees, Come Hear The Angel's Voices!" It was the payoff line for the guys in our goofball gallery. We didn't know much, but we knew we were supposed to come in strong on this line and let the testosterone flow - it was our most manly moment. Sing out Louie!
When all was lost, we followed the girls. They knew the music, so we tried to sing the same thing they did, a bit lower and a half-second later. That's why our choir seemed to have a built-in echo no matter what we sang or where we played.
Have you ever been part of a choir?
Comments (23)
When my school went Christmas caroling at the nursing home, the music teacher pointedly said to me,"Beth-Ann, the residents would enjoy it so much more if you visited with them while the rest of us sing." Needless to say I was not welcome in choir.No anxiety if they never even let you rehearse.
It has made me a devoted audience member. Last night I heard the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus preview their holiday concert at my church. What fun! The got all the parts of "O Holy Night " right. The biggest surprise...The Chipmunks Christmas Song is really a lovely Christmas Waltz while sung by 100 guys with beautiful voices. Their concert next week at Ted Mann would be worth checking out.
Wishing all a harmonious week with nobody falling off the risers!
Godd Morning All,
I was in a church choir and Jr. high choir. My interest in singing in groups ended when my Jr. high choir teacher discovered that I clapped on the off beat while every one else was clapping on the beat. I guess I have an attraction to the off beat when it comes to most things. May be that is why I like jazz. I think jazz gets part of it's sound by changing the beat.
Good morning, all.
Yup, I was in choir in junior high school, in high school, and in college. I was also in a church choir at an Episcopal church when I was in college because I was good friends with the organist choirmaster. I still sing often, just not in a choir. :-)
Wishing everyone a good week.
Greetings! I sang in the choir in high school, sang with the guitar group at church w/my sisters and also sang baritone in a Sweet Adelines choir. I have a fair voice and can carry a tune, but am NOT a soloist. I've always enjoyed singing in choirs.
And, yes, Dale -- you guys goofing off in high school choir always bugged me. But then, I was a killjoy -- way too serious about everything. I also remember being concerned about falling off risers, having an inadvertent solo, etc. Some fears are just universal. Have a great day!
Yes, I sang in the choir and still sing in church choir. I do some intentional solo work, but in high school, I could also play the piano, so that is where I spent most of my time.
I do remember being told before every concert-DON'T LOCK YOUR KNEES. I do remember guys keeling over off the back riser-usually really tall guys -I'm guessing that would traumatize a choir director for life, so they said it every single concert.
I sang in church choirs throughout elementary and junior high. The church choir director also had a girls' choir - I sang in it for a year, but I think the combination of the double-knit polyester red jumper uniform and "I Enjoy Being a Girl" from Flower Drum Song (which gets really repetitive, especially when you're an alto) did me in on choirs for many years. I still enjoy singing, but haven't been able to get myself back into singing with a regular group.
Two years in Lincoln Jr High as one half of the bass section. My D & D playing comrade and I against 35 other voices with our long-suffering instructor calling for "more bass." Another of nature's little pranks. "Your voice starts to change early? You get to try and hold back an off-key cacophony of tsunamic proportions." Haven't sang in public much since. Although...I did stop by the McPhail College a few months ago. I was thinking of taking a class or two to get my voice into shape. (A local voiceover talent agency has graciously accepted me as part of their talent stable.) The instructor that I met with put me through my multi-octave paces. His conclusion: "I don't know about voiceover stuff but you can SING." It's been food for thought...
I spent a bit of my life in a small town in Nebraska and I could read music and stay in tune, mostly. Because in a small town there aren't many students for anything, those that could sing, like me, were in everything. I was in the school choir, madrigal, boys octet, swing choir and maybe something else I'm forgetting. The episodes of disruption that comes with that age in boys was mostly tolerated and we all had fun. I don't sing now except alone in the car.
Hey Dale,
Are you going to play All God's Critters Got a Place in the Choir?
TGitH, hope you do follow up on the voice study, the world needs more multi-octave basses (and my son will tell you, less shrieky sopranos, like me)
choir... i came from catholic elementary grade school where music and arts were a intrusion on religion class. we got a boat load of hymns to sing along at mass but not much in the way of training. when i went to public junior school ( freedom form chains) i was given no choice but to enter general music because i had no choir or band on my resume. it took the teacher a while to discover that i was not one of the tin eared screw offs in the remedial music class and he asked whty i was there. i told him i came from catholic school and he understood at once annd put me in the concert choir. that was it i have beebn a singer ever since. it got me recruited by the rock and rollers to be lead singer for the band in the jethro tull creme rolling stones rock band o f promanance at the time and then on to the west bank school oif music and the u of m for music classes and then into the living room music corner that gets more dust than attention but it is a treasured area of the house and of our lives.
the kids are now up and running musically.
piano cello oboe trumpet guitar and i was just informed flute will be added and they all sing. it is a treat. i have a son who surprised me with a vocal music majir and when i questioned his sanity he told me " but dad you told me to do what i loved? an i had to relent. seo we got him signed up at mac phail in their prelude program and that led to my being involved with a great choir myslef for a short time. i love singing and will be starting up a garage band and or a capella garage thing in 2010 for my souls well being.
i didn't realize i liked the vocal stuff that much until i noticed that the orchestra, and musical performances i truely enjoy have a vocal bent to them.
holidays are great. the traditions of music are wonderful. isn't it interesting that there is no second occasion that calls for the same type of thing. there are no easter or 4th of july songs so enjoy the heck out of christmas.
have a good holiday season all,
guy in the hat. look up thaxter at mac phail. he is great.
how about daddy sang bass?
Good morning and thanks for the gift of Allison Krause singing The Scarlet Tide. Thankfully my love of singing choral music was not harmed by singing high school choiir renditions of Diana Ross' "Do you know where you're going to?" once I joined my UCC church choir in the 90s. I've never met a requiem I didn't like. And when I'm nervous I just remember that hopefully the sopranos are drowning out my alto mistakes.
Thanks for The Boss this morning too. See you at Neal and Leandra, aka RH 1st anniversary show!
We all sing in our family, in school and in church choir. We also play in the bell choir. We went to the Concordia Christmas Concert this weekend in Moorhead, and it was inspiring as usual. What many people don't know is that during the Concordia concert, objects are passed behind the backs of the choir members to see if they can do it without dropping anything. One year they passed a folding chair along the back row and managed an orange traffic cone on another occasion.
My junior high choir won a statewide competition in the 70's singing Morning Has Broken. The success of the choir owed no thanks to me. I loved singing but could barely carry a tune. I just sang softly enough that they didn't find it necessary to throw me out. Like Cynthia, I was an alto; trying to hit those high notes would have been dangerous for me.
Yep, from grade school through college and beyond. I'm definitely a "blender" rather than soloist. Got to sing in San Francisco Civic Chorale for one, and now am part of a little known group: Prospect Park Community Chorus that just had our seasonal concert yesterday, and will repeat it this coming Saturday at the IDS rotunda at noon... My voice has gotten higher (!) recently, and I asked the director if I could move to soprano section. He replied "Poof, you're a soprano." Except for anything with a high G or A, then I'm an alto (so in concert I always stand "on the cusp", between sections.) It's so much FUN.
Jim, you would fit well in our group, as we always clap on the OFF beats. Tim, great that your kids have picked it up, must be fun to watch all that.
ps - I'm particularly lucky that Husband is in this chorus too, something we can do together. And we've found that singing is one of the GREAT HEALERS -- it's been a spontaneous part of the healing "circles" that gather after a death of a loved one.
Tim - Thaxter was the guy that I saw. Thanks!
Dale, perfect Monday morning music. I am trying to identify exactly why, but it was/is.
A semi-serious question for all: As a former curriculum consultant (blow in, blow off and blow out) I have facilitated teachers of various kinds (music, art, P.E. Industrial Ed., etc.) debating the question “does everyone have a place in the choir?” That is
1) The purpose is to givepeople the basics of this discipline, to make them life-long lovers and amateur participants in the discipline, to give them the joy of participation, to learn to be part of a group effort, etc.
-or-
2) The purpose is to develop the talents of the best students to the best we can and to have an excellent choir, team, etc.
The point of regular, non-specialized schools is a balance. But where is the balance point? The best teachers agonize over that question. It is a life-long struggle in various forms for all good teachers no matter what they teach.
As a former English teacher, I have often wondered: if we intentionally made the purpose of English classes be to teach kids to HATE reading, writing, literature, how different would our program really look? The same for P.E., music, etc.
Late morning greetings! Fun to read through all the experiences with singing/choirs. Definitley have had choirs as a part of my life, as have our kids and now the grandkids.
Off topic, but Dale I am wondering if you and Mike could check with Jasper about using some of the songs from the Time Keepers CD as we observe the first anniversary of RH. I am thinking of "Who Knows Where The Time Goes?" and "Time has Made A Change in Me." in particular. Thx!
trouble w/ satellite this a.m. just to let you know i'm not dead yet.
didn't sing - but had fun accompanying on piano. i guess was too busy with band to do chorus also.
Renee - that is so cool to know about singing while passing folding chairs! ha, ha
sometimes i sing in the barn, but mostly i whistle a bit and mutter to the Girls.
nice chat this morning - thanks, Dale - gave me a good chuckle about dreading an inadvertant solo
Hi, Dale....I can't listen to your show much anymore because I have to go to school and teach elementary music some days as early as 7. But I do read the blog once in a while and I did sing in the St. Olaf Christmas concert 4 years waaaay back in the day. I listened to it on MPR on Sunday. Thanks for the shout out to us music teachers.
We might have a snow day on Wednesday. If we do, please play Sing Sing Sing by Louis Prima.
I used to sing in our church choir years ago when I was in grade school. One choir I remember particularly singing in though was the Lake Woebegon choir. For several years during the Christmas show on A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor would pick people out of the audience and ask them to step on the stage of what was then the World Theatre and we would sing Christmas songs. Phillip Brunelle would direct us in singing Christmas songs. He divided us up in groups of altos, tenors and sopranos and bass. I remember singing Silent Night and we sang part of it in German once. It was a wonderful, memorable experience.
Beth-Ann,
Thanks for the shout out about the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus! The guys did sound fantastic the other evening. We still have seats available for our holiday concerts this weekend! For tickets, check out www.northrop.umn.edu or call 612-624-2345.
I'm sorry I'm going to miss Neal and Leandra for the 2nd year in a row. :( Happy 1 year Anniversary to Radio Heartland!
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