Competition is Real

"A good athlete wants his opponent at his best."
                                                              - Lao Tzu


Many artists have a natural aversion to competition. For some of us, formal contests like sing-offs and choir competitions diminish the joy, creativity and artistry that should be at the core of music-making. The idea of "scoring" a choir is anathema to the sophisticated conductor; surely we can find more nuanced ways to gauge the value of an ensemble, right?

And yet, competition exists in all areas of life- even in the arts. Although we may avoid engaging in artificial, contrived contests with other ensembles, we must nevertheless acknowledge that our ensembles and organizations function in a competitive arena that is subject to many of the same principals that govern other marketplaces.

In any choral community, a conductor finds that good choral singers are a limited commodity. While we can (and certainly should) strive to nurture nascent talent in order to constantly expand the pool of available singers, today's reality reflects the need to immediately engage and hold onto the best choral singers we can find. We've all had the experience of losing a singer from a performance due to some other commitment, whether it be sports (in an academic setting), or, God forbid, a performance with another chorus. To work around this type of situation, we may decide to build a roster of singers who can commit to an entire season, putting availability above technical training in order to achieve consistency (which in itself is a kind of excellence). Nevertheless, the fact remains that we must remain competitive in order to hang onto our singers; other pursuits and other ensembles can, and often will, come between us and our singers.

The responsibility, then, is on us as the leadership to provide an experience so fulfilling to our singers, audience, board members and donors that they aren't interested in going elsewhere. It's important to point out here that we aren't bemoaning the existence of competition; we aren't hoping that other organizations or competing activities will simply disappear. On the contrary, a community with multiple high-level, competing choruses indicates a healthy environment for choral culture. We do, however, want to state that competition does exist- a fact that many in the choral community simply refuse to acknowledge. Hopefully, a friendly and spirited competition can develop between rival organizations, resulting in higher standards across the board. But unless these organizations are literally sharing a bank account, they are in competition with one another.

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KRISHAN: About three years after SACRA/PROFANA's first concert, we were contracted by the San Diego Symphony to provide the chorus for two of their high-profile Summer Pops concerts. This was a thrilling time for us; we hardly even had a board at the time (it was me and two friends,) and we were still very much a rag-tag band. One of the Summer Pops performances was a video-game tie-in, scheduled during Comic Con International 2012. Given the concert's proximity to Comic Con (basically next door) and the pop culture connection, the performance was almost guaranteed to sell out. Certainly there were other, more established choruses in San Diego that the Symphony could have hired for the gig. But SACRA/PROFANA had begun to build a reputation, and we had made ourselves competitive enough to be a viable choice for this opportunity.

From very early on, SACRA/PROFANA has actively sought these kinds of opportunities. We haven't been shy about wanting to remain "San Diego's go-to choral ensemble", as the San Diego Union-Tribune has described us. This doesn't mean that we want other choruses to simply disappear, or that we want to steamroll them into oblivion. But at the end of the day, we want to be recognized as the best choral group around. Certainly, we have stiff competition for this title- and that's as it should be. That's why SACRA/PROFANA is constantly seeking ways to reinvent itself and to expand its reach. In an increasingly crowded choral scene, we want to make sure that we remain competitive.


KIRSTEN:  As is often the case with musicians and artists, my annual income is made up of several part-time gigs that add up to more hours and less money than most full-time jobs. For the past three years, I have built a career out of a variety of strange yet wonderful musical activities, and have worked with over 20 different arts organizations. I've been involved with several different types of administrations, and each comes with a mental pro/con list.

This January I accepted a new part-time, one-class-a-day job at Boston College High School in the 7th & 8th Grade division, teaching a general music class.  After only a short time at BC High, I can already say that it is one of the best jobs that I've held. Most of the positive energy comes from the fact that the entire situation sets me up to want to be there.

The administrators at my school spend time making sure I have all of the materials I need to run my class successfully. They stand behind me if I have trouble with a student, and consider my music class as a high priority - right beside math, english, and science. The other teachers, faculty and staff are supportive - consistently asking me what I need or offering to help me if they can. They provide coffee and lunch as a perk for teachers, and the teachers spend their lunches together discussing how to make specific students more successful in all of their classes. I find myself often wanting to stick around after my classes in the school, just because of the positive environment that they have set as a standard.

From a financial standpoint, the position at BC High is not ideal.  I've been keeping my eye on local, full-time music teaching positions, because, like everyone else,  I do have a financial need to fill. However, I find myself avoiding job applications just because I appreciate the environment at BC High so much. I desperately hope that they can find more for me to do next fall, because I so enjoy teaching there that I would forfeit the comfort of a full-time position for the climate at my current school.

As arts leaders and conductors, we need to create similar environments for our singers. We should strive to set up our rehearsal dynamic in a way that encourages singers to commit wholeheartedly to our mission - even if that means that they willingly sacrifice other interests or perks that they might find elsewhere.

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A lack of competition can easily lead to stagnation, or even negligence (think about the church choir director whose singers are so locked into the parish community that they'd never dream of going elsewhere, regardless of how incompetent or disorganized he is). The good thing about competition is that it often forces us to "up our game"; we find new, creative ways to engage our singers, our audiences, our donors. We challenge you in the coming months to re-think your role as the head of your ensemble or organization. Imagine that every rehearsal has a score-card, or that you're going to be competing for your next (higher-paying) job based on your current performance. What initiatives can you take that you wouldn't otherwise have thought of? Perhaps there's an opportunity to develop a higher level of professionalism in areas where you're coasting (this has often been the case in both of our professional lives, once we're a few years into a secure position). See yourself as competing at the world-class level, and we can guarantee you'll see positive results.

No Pain, No Gain

"A 'No' uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble."
                                   -Mahatma Ghandi

As we advance in our roles as leaders, we are often faced with difficult decisions pertaining to the future of our organizations. These decisions force us to weigh pros and cons, and often have no obvious answers. When confronted with a decision of this nature, we must remember to keep the long-term goals and the overall integrity of our organization at the forefront- even though this sometimes means suffering through the short-term fallout of our decision.

We talk a lot about "integrity", so perhaps it's time to offer a definition. Merriam-Webster gives three definitions for the word, all of which are relevant to our discussion:

1. firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values. (incorruptibility)
2. an unimpaired condition. (soundness)
3. the quality or state of being complete or undivided. (completeness)

From these definitions, we can recognize the importance of maintaining personal integrity. In this post, however, we'd like to examine how organizations build (or lose) trust through organizational integrity.

The thing about integrity is that it requires discipline and sacrifice. It often involves saying "no" to a scenario that presents short-term gains (whether in personnel, funding, or venues). Sometimes unpopular decisions need to be made, with long-term growth and stability in mind. It takes strong leadership to follow through on these kinds of tough decisions, and even to identify when a decision of this nature needs to be made.

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KIRSTEN: When directing a high school choir that rehearsed after school, I had to create an attendance policy for the students to ensure that they recognized the importance of prioritizing rehearsals for the well-being of the group. Naturally, I had several students who needed to miss rehearsal for this, that, or the other thing, and I attempted to enforce the rule with a heavy hand. I wanted students to understand the importance of their commitment.

In my choir, I had a very small tenor section of 4 members. One particular tenor was a fantastic young man - smart, intelligent, social, fun, and loved by everyone. He had piano skills and could rehearse the tenors and basses for sectionals, and could sight-read new music very well. This young man was multi-talented, and very active in extra curricular activities that very often conflicted with rehearsal. While I did verbally reprimand him for his many absences from the group, I never actually penalized him according to the attendance policy I had created. Losing him from the choir would have meant moving from SATB or SSATB music to SAB.

Inadvertently, I sent the message that I not only lacked personal integrity, but that my vision and values for the group were also compromised. While I often gave grandiose speeches on the importance of personal responsibility in attendance and timeliness, I never accepted the short-term suffering of following through with consequences for my student. This resulted in a long-term problem, as other students heard words with no actions, and began to skip rehearsal more often themselves.

While this young man was truly an asset to the ensemble, I now believe that following through and biting the bullet would have created a completely different group dynamic for my choir.


KRISHAN: When Kirsten and I began dating in 2013, she was a new singer in SACRA/PROFANA and I was the leader of the ensemble (then beginning its 5th season). Although we were both single at the time, and had natural rapport, when we started dating I began to sense a change in the group dynamic of the ensemble. In retrospect, I can see how my decision to date one of my singers caused other members of the ensemble to question my integrity. Was I simply taking advantage of my position? What would happen if the relationship crashed and burned? Was I thinking about the implications of my actions, or just behaving irresponsibly? These concerns, and others, naturally began circulating among the singers, and the result was that I lost some of the credibility that I had built up during the previous 4 seasons. In their eyes, my personal integrity had been compromised- and it took a significant amount of time to restore it. Over time, Kirsten and I demonstrated that we were more than just a fling-  through our ongoing relationship, as well as our joint development of several major education initiatives in San Diego. After about a year and a half, we felt that people were ready to accept us as a couple.

Contrary to what some people may have thought initially, my decision to date Kirsten was one that I considered thoroughly. But even though I felt I was doing the right thing in beginning a relationship with her, I also had to accept that not everyone would see it that way- and that they had every right to question my intentions, until time had proven otherwise.

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Personnel decisions, artistic programming, as well as board recruitment and donor relations can all be guided by your organization's values. We believe that organizational integrity is achieved by keeping your primary values front and center- and being willing to take the heat when these values come under pressure.

Grace Under Pressure

"It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment - not discouragement - you will find the strength is there."
                                                                                              -Joseph Campbell

Conducting choirs can be a stressful job. Reconciling conflicting personalities, managing schedules, coordinating venues - these are just a few of the non-musical tasks that can seriously erode one's joie de vivre and get in the way of lofty artistic pursuits. Yet every challenge brings with it an opportunity for growth, as well as a chance to discover unique, synergistic solutions.

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KRISHAN: When SACRA/PROFANA was preparing a concert for an American Guild of Organists Convention in San Diego, we scheduled a rehearsal in the performance venue on the evening before our concert. Unfortunately, when a few of us arrived one hour prior to the rehearsal start time, we realized that all the doors were locked up tight, and the church grounds were totally deserted. I made several frantic phone calls to our contact at the church (who had promised me that one of the doors would be left unlocked), but to no avail. About 30 minutes before the start of rehearsal, choristers began arriving, and we explained the situation. One chorister suggested that we might move the rehearsal to our regular venue, which was about 20 minutes away - at least we knew we'd be able to get inside. Despite my overriding ethos of "always do what you say you're gonna do", I realized that moving our rehearsal was probably our best bet (especially since, in this case, following through with Plan A was literally impossible). The clock was ticking, rehearsal was starting in less that 30 minutes, and choristers were beginning to ask questions. I made the call to move the rehearsal, and as soon as I did, the group came alive: choristers began calling and texting other choristers, organizing carpools, etc. In a matter of minutes, we had coordinated the move to Plan B, and we were able to begin rehearsal at our regular venue only about 15 minutes late. The positive, proactive energy of the group carried over into the rehearsal, and we finished early that night. Although I was embarrassed by the last-minute logistical snafu, I was fortunate in that scenario to have a group of choristers who were able to think quickly on their feet and handle the situation with grace and good humor.


KIRSTEN:  I was teaching a high school choral group, and we entered the auditorium to hold our last rehearsal before the winter concert. Much to my surprise, the Drama Club had bolted down the set for their show (which was scheduled for the weekend after our concert) to the stage. Upon walking into the auditorium with my students and seeing the situation, I immediately had to begin changing my plans to work around what we had. I was extremely frustrated. However, in that moment I also knew that I had 40 high school eyes watching for my reaction. By handling the situation calmly and with grace, I was able to model behavior for the students that I hope they will replicate in future situations. It would have been easy in the moment for me to initiate a rivalry between the Choir and Drama clubs. But by showing the students to make the best out of frustration, I was able to prepare them for real life in the future. Professional musicians have to work around venue difficulties every day - I considered it a part of the students' education!

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Most of us have had moments when we've lost our cool in front of our ensemble, but as we grow and develop as leaders, these moments become rarer simply because we've come to anticipate- even expect- unforeseen challenges. Our singers often look to us to provide an example during these types of situations. As is so often the case, the conductor sets the tone- and the group will respond accordingly.

It's Really Hard to Get Even Moderate Results

"Wanting people to listen, you can't just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them with a sledgehammer. And then you'll notice you've got their strict attention."
         -from the movie Se7en

As choral conductors, we rely on other people to realize our visions. We are, to some extent, dependent on our choristers, our boards, and our audiences. The flip side of this, though, is our inherent responsibility as choral leaders to motivate people. We must constantly seek to engage and to evoke enthusiastic commitment from people; in short, we must strive to inspire others.

How do we accomplish this? There's an almost infinite variety of ways that we can inspire people. However, in this post, we'd like to focus on the value of persistent, focused dialogue with others.

In our efforts to promote and recruit for our endeavors, it's easy to fall into the trap of "free publicity". Libraries, schools and well-meaning colleagues will happily hand out fliers on our behalf. But do these paths of little resistance actually lead to success?

The answer is: rarely. We've found that in order to see real results in this area, we must engage in personal one-on-one dialogue with at least several key people (if not hundreds of potential customers). When we set out to motivate others, whether it's to attend a performance or join an ensemble, we tend to underestimate how much work is required to secure the commitment of even one person.

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KRISHAN: When I held my first full-time church job, the Pastor and I decided to introduce a series of choral events. The parish had never really hosted concerts, although the space was acoustically ideal for choral performance (an intimate setting comprised of nothing but hard surfaces). For our first choral concert, showcasing an excellent local chamber choir, we ran an ad in the parish bulletin for several weeks, posted tasteful fliers around the church grounds, and augmented our publicity efforts with an announcement from the Pastor at the end of Mass. The result of our modest publicity effort was disappointing: less than 40 people showed up for the performance. The church could easily accommodate a few hundred, and we had hoped for at least 150. This was an early lesson to me. I learned from this experience that, in order to get people to show up, it take more- much more- than just putting the info out there.


KIRSTEN: I learned this lesson in 2014, the year that Krishan and I founded the SACRA/PROFANA Summer Choral Intensive Program.  I had big plans for that summer - my ultimate goal was 100 students, 25 of each voice part. I wrote out my plans and began working very hard. I contacted every choral teacher in the area and made over 25 school visits to announce the new program, speaking to over 700 high school singers in total. I gave each student a detailed brochure of the program with a registration packet, and collected e-mail addresses so that I could follow up with more information. I created a rotating schedule, whereby every 5 days I sent reminder emails to specific choirs, urging their members to register. As a very driven and goal-oriented individual, I wanted all of my ducks in a row in order to achieve my goal of 100 registered students in 2014.

In 2014, 76 students registered for SCI. Even when I thought I was going full force, I was unable to reach my goal. 76 is certainly a respectable amount of students, and it turned out to be a great summer- but 76 was not the original goal I had expected. Reaping the benefits of what I had sown wouldn't even come in 2015, when we had 97 students registered - closer to the goal, but not quite there yet. After several meetings, thousands of email conversations, and pulling as many teeth as possible, I still achieved a moderate result relative to my goal.

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Every product under the sun relies on focused, sustained marketing to engage its audience. Why should choral music be any different? Most of the time, we know that we have an incredible, perhaps even life-changing product to offer. Our marketing efforts should reflect that knowledge, and we mustn't be averse to engaging directly and persistently with individuals. While it certainly requires less effort to write ads and hand out flyers, engaging in personal dialogue leads to exponential success.