MEMOIR AND LINKS: Don't just listen — make music, too

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News

There’s an old aphorism that says, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The answer, of course, is “practice, practice, practice.” That’s what I’ve been doing. So next Monday, I’ll be joining 14 of my fellow members of the Pasadena Presbyterian Church Kirk Choir singing with a chorus of 250 in “A Concert for Peace” (LINK) at the famed New York auditorium.

The music we’re singing is Stabat Mater by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, a wonderful piece that we performed last spring for our annual Good Friday Devotional Concert at the church. The program also includes the U.S. premiere of Jenkins’ Gloria, but a different choir is singing that one. For the Stabat Mater, we’ll singing with the Saddleworth Musical Society (England), Sine Nomine Singers (NC), University of Johannesburg Choir (South Africa), and West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South Chorus (NJ).

This entire operation is the brainchild of Distinguished Concerts International New York, which presents several of these concerts in New York each year (LINK). Choirs audition by submitting a recording; singers each pay a fee plus their expenses to travel to and stay in New York City. This isn’t the only group that does this sort of thing; it’s just the one with which we associated for this performance.

Closer to home (and for no charge), my church choir sings an annual Good Friday concert and each spring we invite interested singers from throughout Southern California to join the choir for the major work, which this year is Fauré’s Requiem. This means you can sing the Good Friday concert without having to commit to singing Sunday services.

Singers rehearse for an hour every Thursday from 7:30-8:30 p.m. beginning March 3. Then there’s a dress rehearsal from 7-10 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19, and the concert at 7:30 p.m. on Good Friday (April 22). Carnegie Hall it’s not but it’s a chance to sing a major work in a concert surrounded by 90 other singers and an orchestra with several hundred people in attendance. If you’re interested, email our Director of Music/Organist Timothy Howard at [email protected]

Singers (at least those whose primary genre is classical music) can also avail themselves of a unique opportunity through the Berkshire Choral Festival (LINK). The advantage of this program is that it’s for individuals (unlike, for example, DCINY, which is for ensembles). You apply — BCF’s Web site states, “While we do not require auditions, we do ask that you be an experienced choral singer who sings regularly in a chorus or choir” — and submit your musical background. If accepted, you spend a week immersed in singing during the summer.

There are four separate weeks at the Berkshire School in Sheffield, Mass., which is in the same area as the Boston Symphony’s Tanglewood, or (in 2011) you can sing in Vancouver, BC, or in Salzburg and nearby Mondsee in Austria.

You learn the music on your own ahead of time (scores and rehearsal tapes are supplied) and come prepared for an intensive week of singing (28 hours worth). It's not all work; there's also time for sightseeing. Each week is led by a well-known choral conductor and, except for Salzburg/Mondsee, concludes on Saturday night with a concert with orchestra.

Salzburg/Mondsee is different because of the location. Rehearsals are in the town of Mondsee, which is a beautiful village on a lake about 20 miles outside of Salzburg. The concert Saturday night is in the Mondsee Cathedral (site of Julie Andrews’ wedding in The Sound of Music), which isn’t large enough for both a large choir (about 135 the year I went) and an orchestra.

The Saturday concert, therefore, is anthem-sized works, some of which are accompanied by organ. On Sunday, singers go to the Dom (the main cathedral in the old city of Salzburg) to sing Haydn’s Schopfungmesse (Creation Mass), accompanied by orchestra during high mass. When I sang with BCF several years ago in Salzburg/Mondsee, it was one of the highlights of my musical life.

So what’s the real point of all of this? So many people in the 21st century have a good time attending concerts but never really have the thrill of participating by singing (or playing) with an ensemble. Over and over, Gustavo Dudamel — music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic — talks about how important it is for children to be play in an orchestra, not simply to be exposed to music but for the joy and discipline of learning to work with a group. Those are valuable life skills for children to learn.

That goes for adults, as well. Although many churches have abandoned choirs, there are others that still maintain active programs. On a community level, choruses pop up in genres ranging from classical to barbershop (both men and women).

There’s great power and joy in singing with a choir, whether it’s in a church choir or a community-based chorus. Plus, the more people around you, the easier it is to sing. There’s plenty of work involved; our choir members each devote hundreds of hours a year in rehearsals, services and programs, plus the time we spend on our own learning music. However, it’s also a unique experience, something you don’t feel from the audience seats.

So this new year, make one of your resolutions to not just listen to music but to make music … and if you practice, practice, practice, you too, one day, might be onstage singing in Carnegie Hall.
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(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.