Dear Mr. Shaw,

It was in the fall of 1973 that I first met you, and I recognize it today as one of the pivotal experiences of my life.  I was auditioning for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and was thrilled to be meeting you, my idol since age 12.  I recall standing there, a young college instructor just two years out of graduate school, with knees trembling as I heard you softly say after my auditon, “You’re in, and I think I’d like you to come back and audition for the Chamber Chorus as well.”  I don’t think my feet even touched the ground on the way back to my car! Well, the Chamber Chorus audition went fine and even resulted in an invitation to solo in the November performances of Handel’s “Messiah.”  Within several weeks of meeting you, I was standing on the stage of Symphony Hall performing as a soloist under your baton.  I could hardly believe my good fortune.

What transpired during the next ten years of singing for you as both a chorus memeber and a soloist was a succession of musical epiphanies, each one somehow illuminating my life with brightness and clarity.  I remember Florence Kopleff, your alto soloist of choice for several decades, singing ‘Agnus Dei’ from Bach’s “B Minor Mass” and thinking that if I closed my eyes I might be transported to heaven.  I also remember a time when the Chamber Chorus was performing Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion.”  During a section of exquisite beauty, I felt tears cascading down my cheeks.  Somewhat embarrassed at my lack of control, I glanced quickly to my left, only to find my neighbor also in tears.  A quick look to my right found that singer in a similar condition.  You had led us to a place indescribable in its poignancy.  I remember your spoken and written words, which helped us understand that we were part of something much larger than ourselves.  I remember you saying that God was not pleased with wrong notes and that things would go much more smoothly if we would just go ahead and sing what the composer had requested.  You were right.

As you know, you were often praised for your sensitivity to humankind and for your thoughtful reflections on our relationship to God and God’s relationship to us.  At the same time, you were criticized for your sometimes callous treatment of individuals, a seemingly contradictory behavior considering your affection for us as a group.  I recall a conversation you and I had shortly after one of those blistering attacks on a chorus member, an attack I considered unjustified.  We were in one of our ‘friendly periods,’ and since I had recently performed as a soloist in an ASO subscription concert, I felt qualified to help you learn something about interpersonal communication.  (You must remember, I was much younger then!) I approached you and said, “You know, Mr. Shaw, you have such an affection for humankind; it’s a shame you don’t like people very much.”  I awaited your response with a bit of trepidation, but you laughed your tremendous, hearty laugh, slapped me on the back and said, “You may be right, Mike.  It takes a lot of effort to be nice.”

Well, you were very generous to me that day, and I want to thank you for being kind, the very quality I had just suggested you did not possess.  It’s true, you didn’t always choose the most socially acceptable way to show you cared about people.  However, you showed it in more profound ways.  For example, you opened my eyes, ears, heart and mind (and those of many others) to the truth and beauty of choral music.  And you taught me, by example, to never give less than my all – that this art of making music deserves, even demands, our total effort.  Oh yes, you cared deeply for all of us, individually and collectively.  I was just unable to understand it then.

It is difficult for me to imagine now a world without your presence – leading, correcting, encouraging and chastising.  But you are still with us and will continue to be, as long as we have your recorded performances of more than 50 years from which to learn, and as long as we have singers and conductors who try to pass on what they have learned from you.  So, thank you, Mr. Shaw.  You have enriched my life in ways I can never begin to express, and I will be grateful to you every time I study a score, lift a baton or open my mouth to sing.

Rest softly, Mr. Shaw.  Softly rest.

I have always believed one of the best ways to honor Dr. King on his special day is to do something of value in his memory.  For that reason, MOS regularly rehearses on MLK Day each year.   Always at this particular rehearsal I am reminded how important it is for us to learn and perform music that moves us to a higher plain.  We are fortunate this year to be doing that with Beethoven’s Mass in C Major.  There is even a “King-Beethoven” connection in one of MLK’s quotes.  King uses Beethoven’s music as an example of something being done at the very highest level, and he reminds us in his statement of the importance of doing anything we do to the best of our ability.  Here’s the quote:

I was particularly struck by McFerrin’s comment that the music we listen to should be “redemptive and life-affirming.” He went on to lament the degrading and cynical subject matter of much of the music listened to by young people today and suggested that since music has such a power to influence we should be careful what we listen to and perform. It made me think about the music we’ve just begun rehearsing in The Michael O’Neal Singers. Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, Op. 86, will be performed with the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra at the end of February. This rarely performed piece is truly an inspiring work of art. Written more than a decade after Beethoven had begun to lose his hearing, and five years after his profoundly moving epistle, the Heiligenstadt Testament, the Mass shows a composer already pushing the limits of accepted musical style and exploring expanded interpretations of a centuries old text. I am thankful that this masterpiece which came from Beethovens head, heart and soul over two hundred years ago still has the ability to be “redemptive and life-affirming” to those of us who peform or hear it today.

The Choir Member’s New Year’s Resolutions listed below are a reprint from last year’s blog.   At that time I received some great responses from my readers (including additional resolutions) and I invite you all to participate again this year.   Although Christmas may still be in our thoughts, it’s never too early to be preparing for that first rehearsal of the new year!

A Choir Member’s New Year’s Resolutions

1. I will listen to my director.
2. I will be on time for rehearsal.
3. I will come to rehearsal having studied any assigned spots.
4. I will bring a pencil to rehearsal and will mark my music as needed.
5. I will transfer (outside of rehearsal) any markings provided in a master score.
6. I will pay attention to the vocal sound I make and how it fits into the overall ensemble.
7. I will talk during rehearsal only during approved breaks.
8. I will silence my mobile device prior to rehearsal, and will refrain from reading or sending e-mails or texts during rehearsal.
9. I will resolve to learn something of value at each rehearsal.
10. I will listen to my director (this bears repeating!).

]]> http://mosingers.wordpress.com/2011/12/25/a-choir-members-new-years-resolutions-reprise/feed/ 1 Michael http://mosingers.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/let-it-snow/ http://mosingers.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/let-it-snow/#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:00:52 +0000 Michael http://mosingers.wordpress.com/?p=548 ]]> As Christmas fast approaches, many of us wish for a holiday with snow (especially those of us in the South, where such an event is rare indeed).  I find myself thinking more and more about songs that include “snow” as part of the overall theme.   My favorite secular song is Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.  It is a wonderfully sentimental song and was a tremendous hit with our armed forces when it was first introduced during the Second World War.  Our young men and women, whether serving in the Pacific or in Europe, were reminded of home, family, and what they were fighting to protect when they heard the words by that great American songwriter, Irving Berlin:

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas

just like the ones I used to know.

Where the treetops glisten and children listen

to hear sleigh bells in the snow.

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas

with every Christmas card I write.

May your days be merry and bright,

and may all your Christmases be white.

Many of my favorite carols also introduce the subject of snow.  Consider the exquisite poem by Christina Rossetti, set beautifully to music by Gustav Holst, as well as by Harold Darke.  The piece is In the Bleak Midwinter:

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Still, Still, Still is another piece which never fails to move me.  My church choir did a Mack Wilberg setting of this lovely little lullaby at its recent Christmas concerts.

Still, still, still,

One can hear the falling snow.

For all is hushed, the world is sleeping,

Holy Star its vigil keeping.

Still, still, still,

One can hear the falling snow.

I’m sure you have some favorite Christmas/Holiday “snow” selections.  How about sharing them in this blog.  You may even find that your suggestion is included in one of my future concerts!

As The Michael O’Neal Singers prepares to present its 6th Annual Messiah Sing-Along, there will be something new in how we do it! For the first time we will have the solos, as well as the choruses, sung by the audience! Don’t ask me where I got the idea, for I’m not sure! I just remember waking up one morning thinking about our Sing-Along and considering the possibility of having the solos sung by the vocal sections rather than by professional soloists. The more I thought about it the more convinced I became that it was a wonderful idea! Naturally, the “proof of the pudding” will be this coming Sunday at 3 PM when this interesting experiment takes place. Just imagine 200 tenors singing “Ev’ry valley shall be exalted” or 300 or more sopranos warbling “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.” The excitement is building as we prepare for the day! This is either going to be remembered as one of my best ideas ever, or not! What do you think?

That leads me to my question of the day. There is absolutely so much beautiful Advent and Christmas music available for performance. My challenge each season seems not to be what to select to perform, but rather what to exclude! So, what is your favorite Christmas selection (or selections, if you can’t narrow it down to just one)?

All in all, this was one of those concerts which reminded me how lucky I am to be a choral director.  To be able to study, rehearse, and perform beautiful music with a group of talented, committed, and caring singers is a remarkable privilege, and one I do not take lightly.  Thank you MOS!

1 – Intonation is the sine qua non (without which nothing) of choral singing.  In other words, correct pitch is essential!

2 – Time is divisible, and must be particularized with a precision similar to that given to intonation.  Count singing anyone?

3 – Vocal tone (in addition to being capable of absolute pitch at an absolute moment) is also capable of a variety of dynamics and colors.

4 – Choral music has words and the distinct and successive sounds which form these words must be given their moment of time.

These four basic concepts, followed carefully and constantly in rehearsals, can produce some fine choral singing.  It sure worked for Mr. Shaw!

You may have heard of the “six word story” idea that has been floating around the internet and college writing classes for some time.  The goal is to come up with a phrase that describes in exactly six words a person’s thoughts on a particular subject.  The concept is believed to have started with the famous author, Ernest Hemingway, who accepted a challenge to write a short story in six words.  His response was this – For sale: baby shoes, never worn. Of course, few persons would be able to come up with such a thought-provoking six word story as the one produced by Hemingway.  Still, it is a fascinating exercise and a good way to refine and distill our ideas on a specific theme.

The Thanksgiving Holiday seems to me to be a good subject for a “six word story.”   I encourage the readers of this blog to come up with some examples that express what Thanksgiving means to them.  I’ll get you started with two of my own.  I love eating at any time (big surprise), but especially at Thanksgiving, so I came up with Favorite meal – turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie.  Another one hints at the busy rehearsal and performance schedule that awaits musicians after the Thanksgiving holiday.  Last rest before rush of December.

This should get you started.  I look forward to hearing your “six word stories.”