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Thank you so much for the invitation to share our HCC planning and thoughts. It is an honour to be highlighted in your newsletter! Hamilton Children’s Choir has expanded into a thriving, progressive program with six different ensembles, ranging in age from 4 to 18. We have a team of 4 administrative staff, and 12 artistic staff. I am so lucky to work alongside Assistant Artistic Director, Melanie Tellez, for our artistic planning. Thus, we’ve written this together! When we develop an HCC season, foremost is our dual-headed mission: artistic growth and meaningful experiences for our choristers. For Ilumini, our touring ensemble, this is (it’s too painful to say has been!) in support of a season-end international tour. For our younger ensembles, this means selecting repertoire which will challenge and support their musical growth, offer a glimpse into a new perspective or narrative, and be effective for them and our audiences in performance. We are always attempting to choose repertoire not by poetic theme or because of seasonal fit, but rather by considering equally the educational benefits for singers, and also the ways in which stories can unite and ignite collective energy. When it comes to 2021-2022, planning in these uncertain times can take very little for granted. It can be painful to be forced so fully outside the box, but it has also led to new ideas and shifts that had never been possibilities for us before. More or less, we have planned and now assess weekly a “strategy A, B and if need be, C” for next season. All the while, we keep returning to confirm that our path remains stewarded by those aims: artistic growth and meaningful experiences. We know that we can expect less freedom: boundaries in terms of spacing, gathering sizes, venues, audience capacity, and.. perhaps more unknowns to come! So we are doing the best to plan with what we know, and having the flexibility to move forward even into the unexpected: VOCAL TONE AND MASKS We are working under the assumption that masked gatherings will be in place for some time, at least when working with children and youth. One priority for us this season is looking for ways to teach effectively and efficiently using singing masks. We have to learn how to teach the nuances of singing with masks. This is a new realm for conductors, learning how to listen and adjust our own breathing techniques, and what we hear and ask for in terms of tone, balance, dynamics, phrasing, vowels/consonants, expression - all will be different now, for the singers and the conductors! Even re-thinking how you use and plan warm ups will require adjustment to be effective. We’re also anticipating now the journey of bringing back the singers’ relationship to our conducting gesture - this will be a choir who are now becoming used to singing along with a metronome click and reinforced vocal part in their earbuds! ENSEMBLE SIZE Previously in HCC, we thrived on growth and cheered on ensembles as they became larger and larger! For this year, our season is planned around securing venue space and artistic staff that can support ever-changing guidelines around gathering limits. We will have to be prepared to cohort our ensembles from 60 singers, potentially down to 10. This means that our repertoire must include options for quartets, and much smaller ensemble sizes than in typical HCC seasons. PERFORMANCE TRADITIONS - to rebuild, or to renew?
I think it is time for us to reconsider the traditional length of concerts. It is not necessary to have a lengthy concert to justify ticketing. Given that we will have to flexibly follow health regulations, which are likely to fluctuate and alter audience capacity for our performances, let’s embrace the freedom from an established form! Merging different mediums can support this period of rebuilding and offer downtime from singing, should the amount of “vocalizing time” continue to be reduced or monitored as it is currently. We are thinking about joining in performance with small instrumental ensembles which can accompany the choir and also play their own solo pieces. Merging poetry and music is always a beautiful combination. I want to share as an example HCC’s most recent virtual spring performance – Anchored, which can work as an online or in-person performance. We've partnered with Hamilton-based author Nicola Winstanley to feature her incredible children's tale, The Pirate's Bed. The story is narrated by our singers, and brought to (musical) life through virtual choral performances from our 6 HCC ensembles. If your budget and venue options allow for use of a large screen, pre-recorded videos in combination with live choir performances allows for that same “phonation pause” without interrupting the flow of art. Pre-recorded videos can be low-budget impactful, too: casual singers sharing happy moments, singer interviews, photo slideshows, historical moments of the choir like a short films and at certain moments you could even combine sound of the video with live choir on stage. Throw in some intentional light design, and it’s magic! UNEXPECTED VENUES One COVID-friendly idea that is more tempting (read: feasible!) these days is moving to untraditional venues, specifically those that are outdoor. Knowing that these may not provide the ideal acoustic, the added value comes from the audience and performer’s heightened awareness of the unique use of space. The energy of that unexpected creativity - especially if visual and sensorially pleasing - creates a big impact. For HCC, this means investigating parks that have bandshells or other open, covered space that can act as a stage. We’ve seen other ensembles make use of parking garages and lots, mixed-use factories with utility door openings, wineries and other outdoor spaces.. and probably many more that we haven’t yet discovered! OTHER VOICES Working with composers, guest conductors, and other voices and teachers is an amazing experience for singers, and the conductor! Singing in different languages, and developing a deep and ever-shifting context for learning about other cultures is a very rewarding opportunity, and one that can introduce diverse voices and experiences with much more impact and connection - now that we are all aware of our virtual capacity for connection, there is no longer a barrier to connecting to the world’s artists. These guests have been motivating and energizing for us this year, so much so that we will continue to bring guests from any corners of the world to our rehearsals now, without fearing that connection cannot be made virtually. REPERTOIRE The pressure on repertoire to serve dual purposes of skill development and meaningful art is even greater this year! It is no small task to recover from a year of online rehearsal: we will need to rebuild the sound, intonation, and the ensemble musicianship skills that were particularly challenging to address virtually. Not to mention all of the other adjustments we’ve included above! With that much change in place, rep selection is now even more exciting and time-consuming work, and as usual, remains crucial to the season’s success. We have learned so much through this season of primarily virtual work, and we hope to keep the best lessons - digitization of resources and learning materials, ease of connecting virtually (farewell, snow days!), and how much musicianship and community can really withstand anything. So we hope to carry these truths forward into whatever the season may bring. Even masked, we still have our eyes clear and ears open, so the journey will be one worth taking! Zimira Poloz & Melanie Tellez
Hamilton Children’s Choir, ON
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