Bringing Others Into Your Reality

"I save all of my energies for the rehearsal. In that two-and-a-half hours, I come alive. I erase everything else from my mind, and I expect the singers to do so also. I want every minute to be filled with something of great import for them through the music."

     -Robert Page

The conductor sets the "frame" for rehearsal.  A social "frame" can be defined as an individual's view of the world, particularly with regard to his or her own role.  This concept is important for anyone in a public or leadership position.  A public speaker who prefaces his remarks with "I promise I won't speak long" is setting up a frame that communicates, "I'm a boring speaker".  By way of contrast, someone who begins a speech with "I'm really excited to be able to share this with you" communicates a frame of passion, enthusiasm and dedication to the subject.

A good coach sets a frame of authority and commitment to his team. Consider a high school football team, where the coach has a regular practice. The coach calls out a play or exercise, and the team executes without question. The team has full confidence in the coach's call, or if they don't, they at least understand that the time to raise questions is not the middle of practice. Imagine even further a coach calling out a play, and a football player yelling out of turn that they should not do that play, but rather do the play that they think is best instead.

The most successful conductors set a frame of vision and purpose, communicating through their actions that they have a plan to achieve it. Their sheer commitment encourages the ensemble to enter the conductor's reality.  Having sung for conductors who exemplify these qualities, we can attest to the fact that they are able to operate successfully, seemingly without concern for fatigue, the weather, or any other mitigating circumstances. In fact, when singing for these high-level leaders, you may literally forget that you're tired when they're on the podium.

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KRISHAN: I had the pleasure of singing Mendelssohn's "Elijah" with Robert Page one summer during a week-long residency at the Berkshire Choral Festival. From the first rehearsal on Monday morning, it became evident to me that Page, then in his mid-seventies, was a man of unbridled energy and commitment. His whole demeanor seemed to scream, "I'm twice as old as you, and I'm working and sweating twice as hard!" He quickly brought the ensemble into his dominant frame. The week was absolutely exhausting, and also one of the most memorable and rewarding experiences I've had as a chorister.


KIRSTEN: From an educational standpoint, I've heard several teachers discuss programming pop music "because that's all the kids want to sing." Many teachers intorduce a pop piece as a "reward" for performing a classical piece well. This is a prime example of falling into the students' reality rather than establishing your own. Just as English teachers are consistently introducing works that the students may or may not enjoy immediately, it is the rsponsibility of the teacher to transmit the education value of those works. Don't get me wrong - my message is not that pop music has no educational value. On the contrary, I think that the style of singing and intricate (and sometimes difficult to notate) rhythms have great value to our young students. But it's just that - it isn't a "reward", because there is educational value, just as Haydn, Palestrina, and Lauridsen all have educational value. Invite your students into the reality that your classroom only devotes time to learn pieces that will impart value, and that after each piece the students will walk away with an enriching experience.

Regardless of the level of singers which you lead, choose every piece as a "reward" piece, and it will be easy to create the reality of an urgent and important rehearsal.  This does not ensure that every rehearsal will be easy, or that every singer will support your decision on every piece.  However, if you believe wholeheartedly in every piece of repertoire, your choristers will begin to believe in it as well.  Invite your choristers into the reality that your rehearsal only serves the purpose of giving them exciting, important, and purposeful music to create, and you will see the difference, regardless of whether or not they "like" this or that specific piece.

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Everything that you do in rehearsal communicates one frame or other; a frame of urgency and purpose, a frame of fatigue, a frame of disorder, etc. Consider the frame that you exemplify on a day-to-day basis, and whether or not it aligns with your overarching vision.