In Appreciation of 20 Years

The Michael O’Neal Singers ended its 20^th Season with a tremendously enjoyable and successful concert on May 22.  With nearly 1500 persons in attendance it was a great way to conclude what has been a thrilling and satisfying season.  Our overall theme has been CELEBRATE!  We have celebrated the future (with guest high school ensembles), celebrated the season (holiday music with the Atlanta Symphony Brass Quintet), celebrated our community (Messiah Sing-Along), celebrated artistic genius (Mozart Requiem) and celebrated musical theatre (one hundred years of song). 

One constant that I have experienced throughout this year has been a series of congratulatory remarks regarding my contributions to the success of the season, and even for our entire twenty years as an ensemble.  While I have appreciated the compliments, I do not for a moment consider myself to be the chief cause of our success.  Instead, our success has been the result of a shared dream to accomplish something collectively that we could never achieve individually.  The wondrous aspect of this (as far as I am concerned) is that while we have sought to achieve something as a group, there has also been such a large degree of individual growth and satisfaction achieved as well.

As I have observed the commitment made this year by the MOS singers, staff, board, and supporters, I have been humbled.  It has reminded me that there are hundreds of people who want us to succeed and are willing to work to see it happen.  Thanks to all of you who have contributed to our success this season, as well as in past seasons.  It is a pleasure and a privilege to renew my commitment to MOS at this time and I look forward to many more years of making music with an organization for which I have such admiration and affection.

Living in the Moment

I’ve recently been considering how important it is to “live in the moment.”  We’ve all heard the cliché about how yesterday is past and tomorrow may never come – today is what we have.  Taken at too simple a level we can all understand the silliness of such a comment.  If we don’t learn from the past (including both failures and successes) and if we don’t plan for the future we are destined to lead a rather pointless existence.  Still, we’ve all been guilty at one time or another of dwelling way too much on yesterday or dreaming an inordinate amount of time about tomorrow.  So much so that we often miss the beauty of today.  I think little children get it best.  In observing my youngest granddaughter (age 3) I can see how she lives totally “in the moment” and is joyful most of the time.

Would that it could be so easy for all of us, but obviously that can’t be so.  As adults we have regrets about the past and worries about the future that crowd in on our daily lives, crushing much of our potential joy.  Still, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could somehow recapture some of the joy of a child?  Over the years one of the most satisfying comments I have heard from members of my choral organizations is that our weekly two hour rehearsals provide such an intense period of concentration on a single activity (singing) that daily cares seem to evaporate during that period.  I’m sure this doesn’t happen for everyone, and not even all the time for anyone, but what a goal! 

Have you found that choral rehearsals sometimes enable you to temporarily put aside your cares and concerns?  How do feel after a particularly inspiring or invigorating rehearsal?   Does “living in the moment” become easier through your singing?  Share your story.

The Value of Variety

 The Michael O’Neal Singers will soon be performing a concert entitled Celebrate Musical Theatre: 100 Years of Song.  The concert will include selections spanning the years between the beginnings of the 20^th and 21^st centuries.  It is typical for MOS to take a somewhat “lighter” approach to the final concert of the season, and this is no exception.  Following on the heels of the Mozart Requiem, it is clear with this concert that we perform an eclectic repertoire!  This leads me to my topic – The Value of Variety.  A cynic might suggest we add “lighter” music to our season as a means to generate more revenue.  Well, that cynic would be right – partially.  It is a fact that we will probably sell more tickets for our Musical Theatre concert than we did for the Mozart Requiem.  But for me there is a much more valid reason for performing “popular” music from time to time.  I believe both a chorus and an audience are enriched by the experience.  It is generally much easier to connect with a text of a popular song than with the words (many in a foreign language) found in more serious selections.  Popular music often employs melodies that can be remembered long after the end of the concert.  Communication between an audience and chorus can be more instantaneous and direct with popular music. 

Listen to what Ned Rorem, one of America’s leading “serious” composers of the last half century has to say about the subject: 

I used never to weep at Great Art, at Couperin or Kierkegaard, maintaining it was too multi-dimensional for the specific  of  tears.    I wept at the rapid associative revelations of a Piaf, or at Lana Turner’s soapy dilemmas.  Crying was caused hence by entertainment, not masterworks.

Today tears dictate my first judgment of any works, their levels be damned.  What counts is to be kinetically moved.  And who says Edith and Lana aren’t art – or, if they are, that Kierkegaard is more so?

I believe Mr. Rorem’s words get right to the heart of the issue.  We enjoy listening to musical theatre because it moves us.  It affects us in a very personal way that “classical” or “serious” music often does not.  Why is this so?  I believe a major reason is that music of the theatre is designed primarily as entertainment, and as such provides a wonderful respite from the cares and stresses of everyday life. 

Of course I’m not at all suggesting that we aren’t moved, or even changed, by the great masterworks of choral literature.  We will always include the Requiems by Mozart and Brahms, the Solemn Vespers by Rachmaninoff, Elijah by Mendelssohn, and countless other great works in our repertoire, but I think we would be missing something very special if we did not also include popular music – often referred to as the “music of the people.”

What are your thoughts as singers and as audience members?  Do you enjoy including lighter selections in our concerts or would you prefer a repertoire consisting entirely of “serious” choral music?  There are no wrong answers here.  Let’s get some dialogue started.