Music and July 4th

I just completed three fantastic Patriotic Concerts with the Roswell UMC Sanctuary Choir and Atlanta Wind Symphony and was reminded of the tremendous emotional impact music often has on us.  Many audience members told me they were in tears through much of the concert and I even heard from several performers who told me how moved they were by the music they were performing.   Our concert included many of the Patriotic “standards” such as America, the Beautiful, God Bless America, Battle Hymn of the Republic, Armed Forces Salute, and Stars and Stripes Forever. 

While we didn’t perform it in our concert this year, one of my favorite patriotic hymns is This Is My Song, sung to the Jean Sibelius tune FINLANDIA.  I believe it speaks to me so deeply because it reminds me that love of country is not unique to citizens of the United States of America.  The text, written by Lloyd Stone in 1934, goes as follows:

          This is my song, O God of all the nations,
          a song of peace for lands afar and mine.
          This is my home, the country where my heart is;
          here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
          but other hearts in other lands are beating
          with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

           My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean
           and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
           but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
           and skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
           O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
           a song of peace for their land and for mine.

These words help me remember that I am not only a citizen of the USA, but also of the world.  As such, I wish for all the peoples of the world freedom, justice and happiness.

The great patriotic music we enjoy each July 4^th includes the themes listed above and when performed and heard with true sincerity this music encourages us to be the country our forefathers envisioned.  For all of you, I wish a safe and happy holiday which will hopefully include some thrilling and soul-stirring music.  Happy Birthday, America!

Choral Music Impacts Our Lives

Chorus America is a national organization that supports the work of choral groups (especially independent choruses) around the country.  The Michael O’Neal Singers has been a proud member of Chorus America for many years.  In 2009 Chorus America commissioned a study of the impact of choruses and choral singing in our American life.  There were four key findings:

Finding #1 – Choral singing continues to be the most popular form of participation in the performing arts.   There are an estimated 32.5 million adults regularly singing in choruses today and 42.6 million Americans overall (including children).

Finding #2 – Adults who sing in choruses are remarkably good citizens.  Chorus members are avid patrons of the arts, they volunteer significantly more frequently than the general public, they contribute much more financially to philanthropic organizations than the average American, and they exhibit greater civic leadership than their fellow Americans.

Finding #3 – Children who sing in choruses have academic success and valuable life skills.  Children who sing in choruses get significantly better grades in school, they are more likely to possess qualities conducive to learning and development, e.g., good memory, good practice and homework habits, and high levels of creativity, and finally, they are better team players and have more advanced social skills.

Finding #4 – The decline in choral singing opportunities for children and youth is a key area for concern.  More than one in four educators say there is no choir program in their schools and one in five parents say there are no choir opportunities for their children in their communities. 

Obviously, the first three findings are excellent news for those of us who love choral music, while the fourth finding is distressing, especially in light of the first three.  I would encourage everyone who cares about the future of choral music to spread the information obtained from this study.  It provides an opportunity to express pride in the impact of the choral artistic effort, and also gives a chance to encourage actions that will foster choral growth for generations to come.  A copy of the full Chorus Impact Study is available from Chorus America at www.chorusamerica.org.

Singing for the Joy of It!

The Michael O’Neal Summer Singers began rehearsals last night with 170 excited singers (well, perhaps 167, but I still have hope for those remaining three!).  The evening was a reminder to me that one of the things I love most about choral music is the enthusiasm of the singers.  As folks entered the rehearsal room I noticed many persons renewing past summer friendships, and many individuals meeting for the first time.  There was a discernible air of anticipation as everyone gathered and waited for the first notes to be sung.   I mentioned at the beginning of the rehearsal how much I enjoy the egalitarian quality of Summer Singers – no audition required, open to all interested singers.  This approach results in a chorus comprised of beginning singers, professional soloists, and everything in-between.  It’s wonderful! 

So what are your thoughts about singing in a chorus?  What are some of your special choral memories?  What is it that inspires you to include singing in your busy life?  Share your thoughts in this blog and let’s learn from each other.

Making Music Matter

Back on January 2 of this year I wrote a blog entitled “Continuing the Song in Economic Downtimes.”  I suggested that there were going to be difficult days ahead for arts organizations and that we all, participants and attendees, needed to be ready to make positive differences in whatever ways we could.   In a recent issue of TIME magazine (June 8), the same theme of trouble in the arts community was covered in “The Culture Crunch” by Richard Lacayo.  It is an excellent report and it names several venerable national arts organizations that have recently had to close permanently.  However, it also identifies some groups that are managing to stay relevant to their audiences and at the same time remain fiscally sound.  The Michael O’Neal Singers (MOS) intends to emulate the latter groups!

In our recent Spring Appeal MOS managed to more than double the number of donors from the previous season and we also achieved over 130% of our advertised goal.  How did we do it?   I believe one very real reason is that we have a constituency that believes in our mission and wants to help us achieve it.  In a more practical sense, however, I think we were able to convince our people that no gift was too small or insignificant.  Hence, while our average Spring Appeal gift was less than in recent campaigns, we ultimately ended up with more donors than ever before and more funding than we had anticipated. 

Perhaps there’s a lesson here.  With governmental, corporate and private foundation funds harder to obtain (because there are fewer funds to go around), it is imperative that arts organizations find ways to stay attuned to the needs and wishes of their audiences even as new funding sources are sought.  MOS just concluded its 20^th Season with over a 150% subscription to the final concert and nearly 1500 people in attendance.  We will soon begin our Summer Singers rehearsals with over 172 people signed up to participate (our largest registration since we began the summer chorus five years ago). 

In the Spring Appeal letter MOS sent out in March, I quoted Karl Paulnack of the Boston Conservatory of Music in a speech he had made to the parents of incoming freshmen to the Conservatory.  He said in part:  Music is a basic need of human survival.  Music is one of the ways we make sense of our lives…a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we can’t with our minds.

It is important for those of us involved in choral music to believe, really believe, what Mr. Paulnack states above.  Then, if we can spread that belief with missionary fervor, perhaps we will weather just fine the challenging  economic days that still lie ahead.