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Pop/Show/Musical Theater and ChoirDate: April 18, 2013 by Tina Harris  Views: 1022
I'm starting to think I have to change with the times - my HS Intermediate Concert Choir enrollement is steadily falling and the incoming students I audition are only singing pop/musical theater as our feeder school have little to no choir classes. I'm geting mostly pop wannabee's with little interest in traditional choral music. I still have a great chamber group who sings primarily traditional choral music, but less and less students are staying with the Concert Choir - they sing for a year and then either join the advanced group or don't come back.
We have a fine, small Show Choir with some stellar dancers, but no training group feeding into it. I'm thinking of introducing Show Choir/Pop/Musical Theater music into my intermediate group to see if my retention rates go up. My hesitation, of course is that this will affect my chamber singers in the long run as less students will be interested in it... and as much as I love contemporary music (and am expeirenced in it), I don't know how I feel about doing it large scale.
I'd love to hear thoughts from people in the same situation...thank you!
Replies (6): Threaded | Chronological
John Howell on April 18, 2013 4:54pm
Hi, Tina. My situation was NOT the same, since I'm at the college level. But my observations might be applicable.
I was in high school in the very early '50s (Class of '54). My parents were both public school music educators, and I intended to follow in their footsteps. And I later realized that there was an always unspoken but virually universal belief that our job was to introduce students to the classical repertoire, period. Oh, a typical choral program did start with a renaissance motet and end with a set of nice arrangements of American folksongs, popular hits, or novelty songs. (No jazz in those days, though, although Broadway tunes were acceptable.)
And the first crack in this "classical wall" came about because a lot of American GIs, returnng from the War, were getting their teaching certificates, and some of those veterans were jazz instrumentalists, so they wanted to start school jazz bands. But "jazz" had a bad reputation dating back from its inception, since it was associated with bars, brothels, and speakeasies during the Depression. So someone came up with the totally meaningless term, "Stage Band," and I think some publishers are still using it!!
But the attitude in the schools was STILL largely unchanged: we were not there to serve students who wanted to perform outside the classical mainstream. So we didn't, and left them on their own, and then when their musicianship didn't live up to what we expected we put them down for it, even though it was our own fault for refusing to teach them.
Now my plan was to qualify as a teacher and to be the best I could possibly be, but opportunities can always trump plans, and I ended up spending 20 years in my entertainment quartet, "The Four Saints," which I had actually started in junior high school!!
So yes, I believe that we do owe it to our students to provide the best possible training in the musical genres that are the music of our own time, but to do it within the protected environment of the schools rather than leaving them on their own to deal with the drugs, booze, and broads that go along with the lowest level entry-level bands in "the business."
And at SOME point in their school careers, it's important for them to start to specialize in whatever genre they are most drawn to and seem to be best suited to. But the questions is WHEN that should happen. And my suggestion is that it should probably be at the college leve, and at the secondary level they should still be getting a well-rounded musical experience including classical, jazz, pop, AND musical theater.
Others, of course, may disagree. But hopefully with a little more considered philosophy than when I mentioned, in about the mid-'70s, to one of my colleagues that a great many high schools were making their Swing Choirs (the term used at that time in the Midwest) their top choirs, to which he replied, "But they SHOULDN'T!!!"
All the best,
John
on April 19, 2013 7:44pm
I'd personally try a vocal jazz ensemble!
Applauded by an audience of 1
on April 20, 2013 7:47am
Patrice: You wrote: "I'd personally try a vocal jazz ensemble!" which suggests that you have the necessary background to create a GOOD vocal jazz ensemble.
The problem is, any specialized ensemble requires a director who has the necessary skills and knowledge to work within that specialization. And we, at the college level, are not giving our choral music education students those skills and that knowledge. We may pay lip service to a policy of wanting those students to have the broadest education possible, but students are not dummie! They know perfectly well which ensembles have the greatest prestige (and you'd better believe that their studio teachers do as well!!), and almost without exception those will be the traditional classical choral ensembles, often a select chamber choir.
Unless, that is, the student chooses to specialize, but the danger there is that this goes against the entire concept of a broad background, whether that specialization be an early music ensemble, a vocal jazz ensemble, or something else. (One could argue, of course, that traditional choral repertoire, as extended into the 21st century, is actually an area of specialization, and one would be completely correct!)
Now add to that the simple fact that while back in the '70s there were definite differences in the approach to doing the popular music that is today's music of our culture--Swing Choirs in the Midwest, Vocal Jazz on the West Coast, and Show Choir on the East coast--those differences have disappeared and the NAME adopted by an ensemble no longer defines the musical genre, and it gets even more confusing. (For example, a Show Choir today COULD mean an ensemble influenced largely by Broadway musical theater with unison singing and lots of complex choreography, it could equally well mean a dance company with only the simplest singing. The "Jazz Choir" at our local high school is exactly that, not "vocal jazz" by any stretch, and is all-female to boot!
And there's a further complication. When performance standards are not understood, a director who really wants to become the best he or she can be is going to look for standards somewhere else. And unfortunately those standards are going to be set by competitions, and by what is valued and scored high rather than those for which there are deductions. And too often those judging standards are set by judges who have never, themselves, worked professionally in the business. I have never used any of the standard terms to describe my college entertainment ensembles, but I am quite thoroughly familiar with professional standards after working for about 20 years as a professional entertainer myself, with my quartet, "The Four Saints." We were singing "vocal jazz" 'way back before anyone had invented the term or the concept, but not exclusively and not with much if any improv. That wasn't our thing, and we didn't pretend that it was. Our thing was entertainment, first, last and always, and that's exactly how I've approached every other kind of music, even early music!
All the best,
John
on April 21, 2013 7:35pm
Hi Tina -
I'm in a different situation, but with some similar elements.
I've been at my high school for five years, and in my first year I was approached by a student to oversee the running of an Idol-style pop singing contest. This had not run for a number of years, but the turnout was significant -- 50 kids willing to audition a cappella in front of three teachers. Based on that experience I decided the school ought to have a choir, which I started the following year.
I have run the choir since, but it has always struggled. Choir singing doesn't seem to have the cachet of other vocal experiences. We still get lots of kids auditioning for Idol, and for the past two years we have had very healthy casts for school musicals (I'm vocal director for these). Either cast would make a large, talented choir -- except that kids don't seem to be into it.
My administration has always encouraged me NOT to audition for the choir -- so it has been open. This has slowed the pace of the choir, and I have had good singers join for a while but drop out as they found they weren't challenged (my fault, I'm afraid). Five years later my choir is still small. We have had some really good things happen, but going has been slow and we always seem to hit some points in the year where membership drops due to any number of other extra-curricular activities - especially the musical and two student-run variety shows each year. (There are between 80 and 100 clubs and teams in our school) So retention is a problem here too.
Next year I'm trying a completely different approach. I'm going to run a series of "vocal projects" -- I'm even avoiding the term "choir". The first will be a small auditioned group (8 to a max of 16 voices) which will do a show at the beginning of November. It will be an elite singing group doing a variety of repertoire -- a cappella jazz, pop and some "legit" choral works. Some of the material will be suggested/developed by the students involved, and the show will be less a normal concert than a flow of music and ideas using performances, video, projections and spoken word. Following that there will be a Christmas concert choir which will be open with auditioned soloists and section leaders. In the new year there will be a festival choir which will probably be auditioned.
The idea with all of them will be that the kids sign on for a short-term project with a specific goal at the end. The work will be more intense and absenteeism won't be tolerated. Once the project is concluded, everyone goes off to the next thing, which may be the next vocal project or could be a sport or other show or club.
I hope it's going to work. The hunger for pop singing is strong here, but the kids still need to learn good technique and musicianship and gain some experience of different types of music -- all those things that the traditional choral approach offers. But the traditional choral approach I've been taking isn't palatable. So I hope to lure them in with "cooler" show ideas and give them the choral development they need as part of that. And I'm hoping the short intense projects will appeal to all those who are drawn to other activities as the year goes on. Finally I hope that good experiences with one show will encourage kids to return for other shows.... we'll see.
I don't know if any of this could be applicable to your situation -- but you can see that I too am seeing the need for different approaches.
Thanks for reading this far!
Doug
Applauded by an audience of 1
on April 22, 2013 3:13am
If we don't teach them what they don't usually hear at home, they won't learn to love the beauty of the classical music. I don't want to think that over the years we may find college choir directors wondering the same just because we didnt teach our high schoolers to love classical.
David N.
on April 22, 2013 6:15am
Tina,
My philosophy is that I need to expose my students to ALL kinds of music, in whatever venues I can. I teach at a private Christian school of about 400 upper school students (7-12), so we are not very big. However, I have over 80 students in my two choirs. They are not auditioned choirs, but I do have a lot of students. High School this year is 65 students, which is awesome. In the fall, we do lots of traditional music - including spirituals, patriotic songs, some easier classical music and sometimes a Christian Worship song. Christmas we do a variety of music from traditional carols to more complex contemporary things. Then we get to some really meaty stuff for our Large Group Contest in March. Our last concert is primarily a light concert, with pop music, usually one or two musical medleys, etc. I like to include as many solos as I possibly can at this concert.
In addition to these standard concerts, we also have a dinner show in February. This is a show that has a theme - like movie themes, Disney, one year was Isn't It Romantic, and then As Time Goes By. Each year is a little bit different, and students audition to perform at this show. They MUST be in our fine arts program in order to participate - Band, Choir, Drama, and Orchestra. I try to use everyone who auditions in some way. I do have to combine some, and I have to pick a lot of music, and arrange it, but this is a great event. The students love it, and so does the audience. This is an opportunity for them to showcase their talents, just like they want to sing or perform.
I also have a Show Choir that performs at every concert. This is auditioned as well, and they MUST be in my regular choir in order to be in Show Choir. This helps them to stay in choir, and keeps my concert choir ability levels high.
All this being said, I think you need to have variety, not only to keep them interested, but also it is a strong well rounded program. I make my choir sing in languages, and do major works, but not all the time. It is a matter of balance. Plus, they LOVE the spirituals. Lots of fun for them, and a good training tool for me to use.
Hope this helps.
Geneva
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