A newsletter for choral pedagogues

Dear friends and colleagues

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, Pro Coro Canada is preparing for the annual Good Friday concert. The notice to hold the event provided for a very short timeline. I am sure in your experience as director and/or choral pedagogue you have one year to 18 months lead-time for a concert; you know the repertoire, the venue, the singers/musicians and the theme. Actually, I recall some years being a bit disappointed at the moment of setting concerts and repertoire two years out. Knowing that far in advance what music I will be conducting is sometimes anticlimactic.

Now, in the pandemic environment where guidelines and restrictions change in 3 to 4 week intervals, Pro Coro’s production timeline has shortened from 18+ months to 4 weeks. And in the instance of the upcoming Good Friday concert, I had to create a program within three days. So, how did I go about this?

My procedure of selecting music consists of pulling scores from my shelves, making piles according to themes (in this instance: Stabat Mater - Requiem - Passion - related motets, all Good Friday appropriate) and then spending time at the piano and with recordings to listen through the compositions. The fact that I have only 12 singers available for this concert sped up the selection. Any work that divided at any point into more than 3 parts per section (and there was no option to add a voice from another section) moved right back onto the library shelf.

We’re still communicating with venues to find the most ideal acoustics, with a large enough footprint to space 12 singers with 3 metres distance in between each. This reality requires also that I have to limit the music to a cappella as not all spaces have an organ or piano. In addition, I’m interested in works that provide a continuous, rich sonority that help the singers project their full voice - a crucial aspect considering they’re 3 metres apart from each other. In the same vein, I generally start with a work that provides the opportunity for the ensemble to find their ‘sound of the day’. It is almost a check-list: can we hear each other, are we tuning well, how did the acoustics change with the addition of audience (in a normal season), and other external factors that can impact a performance. And any work that has particular vocal requirements, - extreme tessitura, extreme dynamics, has to be placed so that singers can prepare prior or/and relax after. For example the work by Lukaszewski sits low for all voices, and its placement after intermission gives singers a moment to ‘tune down’ and engage their lower end. The works afterwards are not as vocally demanding.

And finally, the musical selection has to fit within 30 minutes segments. 30 minutes being the maximum time allowed for a performance by our provincial health services. After a 10 minute break, we can then perform another 30 minutes, and so on. The program for the Good Friday concert is as follows, and next week I will tell you about my thinking behind the selection and the narrative.

Pablo Casals O Vos Omnes
Stephanie Martin Tenebrae Responsories
Tõnu Kõrvits Stabat Mater
Pawel Lukaszewksi Responsoria Tenebrae
Antonio Lotti Crucifixus
GF Handel And with his stripes, from Messiah
R. E. Perrin It is finished

Below, you will find the final episode of Self-Care with Dr Sara Brooks. I would like to sincerely thank Dr Brooks for sharing her knowledge and insights with us. I hope her messages have given you renewed hope, and have encouraged you to take some time to reflect on your own emotional and spiritual well-being in new ways.

And last but not least, I’m honoured to be guest-conducting the Alberta Youth Choir this year. See below for more information.

With my best wishes,

Michael Zaugg

Self-Care with Dr Sara Brooks Episode #3

Two additional areas of self-care

Last week we reflected on the first three domains of self-care: physical, mental, and spiritual. Did these fit with your ideas of care? What other activities did you add? 

In this final post, we’ll discuss the final two domains - the emotional and spiritual areas of self-care. What kinds of activities belong here?

Emotional care

In our face-paced world – and somehow it still feels this way even during the pandemic – our mind is frequently focused on external factors (e.g. interpersonal interactions, everyday house tasks, social media, and so on). As a result, we very rarely take the time to turn inward, to really tune in to our emotional states. What does caring for our emotions look like? Many of the ideas here could arguably be placed in other categories as well. The key to emotional care is checking in with your own emotional experience, and there are many ways to do that: 

• Journaling and self-reflection

• Gratitude practice (noting 5 things at the end of your day that you’re thankful for)

• Engaging in an activity that makes you laugh

• Practicing mindfulness or participating in a guided meditation

• Tapping into your natural creativity (cooking, colouring, drawing, etc.)

• Tuning in to what’s happening in your body

The final point above is perhaps the most important to consider in our emotional self-care. The simple truth is that our bodies tell us far more than we realize. We are wired to embody emotion, and building awareness of where we’re feeling stress or anxiety can help us address it more quickly. 

A final note about emotional care: label and accept your emotional experience. If you’re like me, your first reaction to uncomfortable emotion is to resist and shove it away as fast as possible. While this strategy may provide some immediate relief, it’s pretty much guaranteed that the emotion will come knocking again, and it may be even bigger and uglier than before. Instead, stop and notice the emotion. Even considering jotting it down in a journal. This very simple act can serve to process the emotion and accept your own human experience.

Spiritual care

Like every other area, spiritual care is unique to each individual. Consider your own needs and whether or not you hold spirituality as an aspect of your identity. Spiritual self-care can take many forms, including:

• Reserving time for prayer or meditation

• Engaging with nature (sitting under a tree, gardening, going for a hike)

• Practicing a ritual that is significant to you

• Attending a religious ceremony or service

• Finding ways to exercise compassion - both for yourself and others

• Unplugging from social media and embrace silence

What other practices or activities would you add to the emotional and spiritual areas of self-care?

Final thoughts

After reflecting on a holistic model of self-care, I hope that you’ve come away with a few new ideas for your own approach. With the end of covid in sight, I encourage you to engage with self-care more frequently than you might have done a year ago. As we weather this storm (and it is coming to an end), our resources are much more limited. The fatigue you might be feeling is a very real, and very understandable result of the heightened awareness that a major societal upheaval brings. Be gentle with yourself. Take the time you need, when you need it.

My hope for us as musicians is that we can all go forward with a new understanding of the meaning of self-care, and can incorporate it into our professional culture in a real way. Our role as community leaders and educators demands that we take care of our own needs so that we can give to others.

Please continue to reach out on social media and through my website. I’d love your feedback and thoughts. Looking forward to connecting with you (perhaps even in person!) in the exciting days ahead.

Feel free to reach out on Instagram and Facebook: @outsidethescore
Web: www.sarabrooks.ca

Conductors and teachers from across the province are encouraged to recommend their strongest singers for an audition. An audition form should be completed by each singer, which is uploaded with your recommendation.

Deadline to recommend singers: Friday, April 9

Canadian Voices: Margaret King

Last summer, Pro Coro commissioned and subsequently recorded 8 new choral works by Edmonton Composers. Each work is available as a video, and each work also has each voice part as a separate practise track. The music is in a maximum of four parts SATB, TTBB respectively SSAA in two instances, and between 4 and 6 minutes long. Most of the composers collaborate with poets to find intriguing texts, and several of the works address the challenges of the pandemic. The sheet music is available from the composers.

This is a great way to engage your singers at home with new choral music by Canadians.

Learn Your Part

Sing along with the Canadian Voices series with our complimentary practise tracks featuring the singers of Pro Coro Canada:

TENOR 1
TENOR 2
BASS 1
BASS 2

TUTTI