|
Programming During a Pandemic OR Can I Say “Pivot” One More Time When Michael asked me to write an article for this newsletter to try to provide my thoughts and insights into how I go about planning my choral season, I was honoured and humbled, but honestly, not sure I really have anything new or innovative to share. Programming in normal times is challenging enough, but for next year, depending on where we live, none of us has any idea whether we will be singing live or providing some sort of online content for our audiences. So, I find myself jotting down ideas which I hope can change on the fly to accommodate whatever direction this pandemic takes us. I love telling stories – sometimes to the chagrin of my choristers! Regardless, stories are the backbone of our tradition here in Nova Scotia – stories of the sea, stories about hardship and tragedy, stories about loss, about people who we admire, passions we believe in, and so on. I try to carry this model through to my choral programs (with greater or lesser degrees of success!) in that they should connect a thread of dialogue which weaves a story about some life event from the beginning of the program to the final chord as it rings in the hall. In normal times, when I go about constructing the five to six concerts which make up the season for the Halifax Camerata Singers, I often have an overarching theme which connects through the entire year. For Camerata, this also includes a couple of concerts as the core choir of the Symphony Nova Scotia Chorus – the 85ish-voice choir that sings the choral programs with SNS. There is always Messiah at Christmas time and perhaps one or two other concerts within the year. With our SNS concerts, there is a delicate balancing act in allowing enough rehearsals for any given performance - as few as two piano rehearsals for Messiah and up to seven to eight for other rep which needs to be taught from scratch. So that leaves three to four solo concerts with Camerata on any given year. And with next year being our 35th Anniversary season, (not to mention the hope of coming out on top of this pandemic) I have chosen themes of connection, renewal, and hope which weave their way through our four solo concerts. I have always found programming a difficult process and I suppose like composition, when the ideas won’t come, the process can be slow and painful. But when “the iron is hot” I like to stay at it as long as possible, trying to get as much on paper as I can. But the difficulty comes with deciding if the proposed pieces for that particular program will indeed work: Do the pieces need to be a capella or with instruments and if the latter, how many? Are the proposed pieces relevant to the theme of the concert? Can the singers learn the program in the allotted time? Is there an appropriate amount of Canadian content and are historically underrepresented composers being considered? What about commissions? Can we afford to produce the program? All important questions to answer before each piece ends up on the “to be considered” list for a particular program. All this in normal times, but during a pandemic, no one knows in advance whether or not there will be a live, physically distanced and masked audience allowed into the hall… or not. Now might be a good time to say that for next year, our 35th Anniversary season, I’m already working on Plan C 2.1 ! Using the beginning of each Camerata season as an example, I usually begin with some sort of a program of Remembrance in November. Past programs have included a Requiem setting like the traditional Brahms, Mozart, Fauré, or Duruflé, but as well, there have been included more contemporary works such as Larry Nickel’s Requiem for Peace which departs from the traditional Requiem text, uses texts from a dozen languages and has themes of forgiveness and reconciliation. Earlier this year, when I thought that we might be able to begin our 2021 season here in NS with a concert which might celebrate the return of a live audience, I constructed a program which departs from the more common “remembrance” themes. Instead, it tells the story honouring the three stages of living through the pandemic: the Lockdown (a state of emergency, feelings of confusion and helplessness); Isolation (the close of borders, cut off from family, the loss of loved ones, grief) and finally Rebirth and Renewal (the opening of borders, singing together again and welcoming back our audiences). This concert had/has lots of promise and the challenge was knowing what rep to cut from the “to be considered” list to make up the 70 minute program. Here might be a good place to mention, that in the case of not being able to find that perfect piece for a particular section of a program – now would be the time to support Canadian composers by commissioning something for your choir. Composers are struggling as well and there is money available both provincially and federally, which supports commissioning a new choral work which in turn can be eventually shared with the entire Canadian choral community. It’s a win win for everyone – composers, conductors and choirs! These last couple of weeks here in Nova Scotia have made me realize, yet one more time, it is not a given that we will be singing this program in front of a live audience. So, how much of it would translate to a virtual performance and how do we accomplish that? That’s where the 2.1 part of Plan C comes in! And that’s the challenge of programming (and singing) during COVID times, all the while taking care of the singers’ physical and mental health, and keeping them engaged, committed and focussed. Now multiply all of these challenges in the three-four concerts which make up our coming season. Sometimes my head spins thinking of it all! But like you, I press on and construct programs to create seasons which are meaningful to audiences, live or virtual, listening in the hall or on YouTube. It is our responsibility to continue to tell the stories, to partner with other artistic collaborators when possible, and continue to make music – COVID times or not! Yours In Song,
Jeff Joudrey, Nova Scotia
|
