Don't Waste My Time, And I Won't Waste Yours

"Time is what we want most, but what we use worst."
                                                                    -William Penn

Everybody appreciates when things run on time. Airlines' flights are rated on their likelihood for on-time departure. The idea of a television broadcast starting late is unheard of. By the same token, our earliest experiences with public accountability involve being reprimanded for tardiness in elementary school. In many areas of civic life, lateness is just not an option.

So why do so many choir directors have difficulty starting rehearsals (or even performances) on time? Some may argue that they're waiting for choristers (or audience) to arrive. But is this really a justifiable rationale? In high school, when the bell rings, it's go time- it doesn't matter who's missing. We've found that introducing a culture of timeliness creates trust (since it bolsters reliability), while promoting professionalism and accountability.

Of course, lateness will always occur. Especially with community and children's choruses, it can be virtually impossible to enforce timeliness without a heavy-handed system of reprimands (which we don't recommend). Nevertheless, we as leaders can send a message of high expectations and commitment when we strive to create an environment where things run on time.

Although it may be challenging to implement strict time-keeping with a new ensemble where choristers are used to a more casual approach, in our experience introducing this practice from Day 1 will eventually send the message that you respect choristers' time, and that you expect them to respect yours as well. In choirs that are accustomed to this practice, it's common for most (if not all choristers) to be seated and waiting to begin a minute or two before the scheduled start time. Once that time has arrived, there may even be an air of expectation for rehearsal to begin.

**

KRISHAN: As an undergraduate, I was chronically late. Even while working on my Masters at Yale, I struggled to get to my commitments on time. However, while singing with the Yale Schola Cantorum during my first semester, Simon Carrington quickly broke me of this habit with a few well-chosen words that are forever etched in my memory.

Another tenor and I were rushing to rehearsal, knowing that we'd be a few minutes late. "No big deal," we told each other, "We'll be like three minutes late." We hurried in a few minutes after downbeat to find the choir standing and Simon already deep into focused work with the ensemble. Without looking up at the two of us, he said sternly, "Don't waste my time, gentlemen, and I won't waste yours." The message was clear: once downbeat arrived, he was going to get down to business. Not only would latecomers be compromising the integrity of his work; their frantic entrance would also be a distraction for the rest of the ensemble. I was never late for him again. In my mind, it simply wasn't an option.


KIRSTEN: At 2:30, the bell rang at San Diego High School for the end of the day. By this time, I was usually in the band room, setting up for choir rehearsal that began at 3:00pm sharp. There was no choir class for credit offered at the school, so the volunteer after school choir club - ironically dubbed re[CHOIR]ed - met weekly. Every week, regardless of who was in their chairs, I began rehearsal at 3:00pm in order to get the most out of our short amount of rehearsal time.

It wasn't until my second year of teaching that I realized how much timeliness had become essential to the high school choristers involved in re[CHOIR]ed. The first time I realized that timeliness was so important to them was when I was running late, and expecting to arrive at 2:50pm rather than my usual arrival time of 2:30. At around 2:45, my phone began buzzing with several concerned emails from students, wondering if rehearsal was still happening. I realized how much they had the expectation that I would be setting up rehearsal reliably at 2:30pm for them to begin right at 3:00.

Not only did I notice how much this affected our choir as a whole, but it also affected individual choristers. I had one student who, during our Summer Choral Intensive Program with SACRA/PROFANA, noticed every moment that I said "10 minute break" and would always come up to me at 8 minutes, warning me that break was almost over.

I was able to take several of my students to a choral festival one year, which they were very much looking forward to. All of my students arrived 20-30 minutes early for the 9:00am downbeat, ready to get their things together and prepare for rehearsal. When the festival conductor did not even begin warming up until 9:17am, my students came to me, frustrated, and asked me why he was disrespecting their time.

When I initially began making a big deal about starting our rehearsals on time, my only goal was to get as much time as possible rehearsing with the students, because 2 hours per week was our only time to prepare full concerts in the winter and in the spring. Timeliness became more than that - it quickly became a sign of respect for my student choristers. I hope they will carry that into their professional lives and careers.

**

If you make a habit of starting on time, we can confidently predict that your choristers will eventually embrace this practice. That doesn't mean that everyone will always be on time, and especially with church choirs and children's choruses, we need to be sensitive to the other factors that may be causing tardiness. But in our experience, the vast majority of choristers will get on board, and will be happy to do so once they can reliably expect that their time will not be wasted. That means that we as choral leaders must have a focused rehearsal plan- and, of course, we must be sure to always let people go at the scheduled dismissal time.

In this age of smart phones, it's easier than ever to set a notification for exactly the top of the hour. Set a goal for yourself to always begin and end on time, and you may be surprised at your choristers' willingness to rise to the occasion.