Focus Your Rehearsals Through Personal Connections

"A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects."
-Herman Melville


In our efforts to be compassionate leaders, attentive to the needs and concerns of our choristers, we can run the risk of compromising the integrity of our rehearsal time. As choral leaders, we're responsible not only for the group's experience, but also, to some extent, for the individual chorister's experience. Thus, we must always seek to balance our concern for the individual singer with the general welfare of the group. The choir benefits from a focused, streamlined rehearsal, unimpeded by personal issues. However, personal issues exist, so we must find an appropriate time to address them.

People need to be acknowledged on an individual level. Each one of us craves affirmation and personal recognition. Sometimes it's relatively easy to acknowledge our singers, especially when they make prominent contributions to the ensemble as soloists, managers, etc. But in some instances, our singers may be quietly seeking personal attention that we are unable to provide during a rehearsal setting.  This is when it's important to take time outside of rehearsal to provide that personal connection to our choristers.

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KIRSTEN:  My college choral professor was Dr. Keith Pedersen at Point Loma Nazarene Univeristy. Dr. Pedersen taught us the importance of addressing choristers' concerns via email.  It didn't matter the hour or his level of exhaustion; when he returned home after every performance, he sat and wrote a heartfelt e-mail to all of the participants.  After rehearsals, Dr. Pedersen would reflect and connect with chorus members and staff to always keep an open line of communication.  I specifically remember him telling us an instance of when he felt distance from a chorister in his church choir during a few regular rehearsals. He sat and wrote an email to the chorister, and soon found out that he had unintentionally offended the chorister with a comment he had made during a prior rehearsal. Dr. Pedersen was able to set up a short one-on-one meeting with the chorister to discuss the matter, apologize, and clear the air. This matter could not have been solved during rehearsal time. The conductor taking time outside of rehearsal to check in and meet with the chorister resolved an issue that, had it not been addressed, could have resulted in negativity or even in a lost member.

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We as musicians tend to always be busy. It can be difficult to prioritize time to be available to check in with your choir members.  However, the time of social mingling before rehearsal, during break, or after rehearsal can set the tone and seriously affect the in-rehearsal environment.

Consider a chorister who has arrived to rehearsal 10 minutes early, but has come straight from work and has had a particularly frustrating or upsetting experience. The conductor being already prepared and set for rehearsal has a chance to check in with that chorister. Upon hearing from the chorister about their day, the conductor can express empathy and offer that they hope the rehearsal puts the chorister in better spirits. Now, going into rehearsal, the chorister feels that the conductor understands their current situation and hopes to improve it. The conductor now knows the reason that the singer is less expressive or extroverted than normal, and does not have to worry that something is wrong, distracting them from the music.

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KRISHAN:As a natural introvert, this topic is one that I struggle with. But as I've grown as a conductor, I've become convinced that the choristers' personal connection with a conductor is a major step forward in the ensemble-building process. So over the years, I've made an effort to get over my own natural reticence and to make myself available to choristers outside of rehearsal. I still find pre-rehearsal small talk to be particularly challenging, because I like to use those minutes before rehearsal to get into an artistic headspace.  However, this year I've made it one of my goals to engage my choristers socially during pre-rehearsal time. I've definitely begun to recognize how this seemingly small thing can drastically affect the tone of rehearsal.

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Our choirs are made up of a wonderful array of human beings, each with a variety of concerns, frustrations, perspectives, etc. As leaders, of course we want to be able to acknowledge each of our choristers individually. Problems can arise when we fail to do this outside of rehearsal; a chorister who is feeling unacknowledged may be a disruptive force within the rehearsal context. Conversely, if that same chorister forges a personal connection with the conductor outside of rehearsal, he or she is more likely to be fully engaged during the artistic process. If you make an effort this year to engage your choristers on matters both big and small outside of rehearsal time, we feel confident in predicting that you will see a more focused and productive rehearsal environment.