The Loss of One Diminishes Us All

John Donne stated in his Meditation XVII that “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

I have always found Donne’s words to be meaningful for those who exist in community, and that essentially means all of us. For those of us fortunate enough to sing in choruses which include friendships as well as musical relationships, there are times when we are especially reminded of our connection with each other. That recently happened within The Michael O’Neal Singers when we lost one of our members to cancer.

Rick Fisher first sang with the MOS Summer Singers in 2005. He auditioned for the regular season beginning that Fall, passed the audition with flying colors, and was a valuable and faithful member from that point on. I remember Rick as being a thoughtful and caring person, as well as a truly committed singer with a lovely tenor voice, who always gave his best effort to whatever music MOS was performing.

It has been suggested to me what a difference MOS made in Rick’s life. I would suggest that Rick has also made a significant difference in our lives. I often tell the members of MOS that we are an excellent example of the Gestalt theory of the “whole being greater than the sum of its parts.” When we gather to sing together, something happens which is well beyond what any of us could do as individuals. Still, it is a combination of all of our individual efforts which creates our music. Rick understood that. He was an integral part of MOS and he will be greatly missed; yet his spirit still lives within each of us and I know our lives and our music have been enriched because Rick came our way. We will always be thankful he did.

Understanding the Poetry We Sing

At the most recent rehearsal of The Michael O’Neal Summer Singers I brought up the subject of the meaning of Robert Frost’s poetry in Randall Thompson’s Frostiana.  Such well known pieces as Choose Something Like a Star and The Road Not Taken evoke in most thoughtful singers some very powerful emotions and I believe an appropriate introspection can result in more powerful musical experiences.  Still, what my singers heard from me that evening was an unwillingness to offer my personal interpretation of Frost’s poetry.  Rather, I encouraged them to engage in personal study and reflection in order to formulate their own “meanings” of the poems.  Keep in mind we’re talking about essentially a group of adults (with a handful of high school and college students).   If it had been a chorus made up primarily of young people I would probably have engaged in a group discussion of possible interpretations.  However, with adults I think they have experienced enough of life to encourage some personal reflection on these poems.

Still, I am always interested in hearing what others have to say about a text with which I have already formulated an opinion.   Often I will discover a new way of examining the poem and find my own interpretation enriched by what I hear from another person.  That leads me to the real purpose of today’s blog.  I’m interested in how you interpret the Robert Frost poems Randall Thompson selected for Frostiana.  Here are the songs, the poetry of which can easily be found online:  The Road Not Taken; The Pasture; Come In; The Telephone; A Girl’s Garden; Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening; and Choose Something Like a Star.  I would especially like to hear from my Summer Singers, but invite responses from anyone out there who knows and loves this poetry.

Thoughts on Rehearsing

The 175 voice Michael O’Neal Summer Singers had its first rehearsal yesterday and it was a joy being with all these people who had gathered to raise their voices together in song.  From what was heard last night I predict it is going to be a very enjoyable and rewarding summer of music making.   A number of participants in the chorus have asked me how best to “focus” themselves in rehearsal in order to accomplish their best.  Recognizing that the building of a great chorus takes place in rehearsals, and it is there the choral cornerstones are laid, I offer these thoughts regarding choral disciplines necessary for great performance.  May they be reminders to all of us that the great cathedrals were built “one stone at a time.”

1. Listen.  The essence of a musically intelligent ensemble lies in careful and critical listening.  When a phrase comes to you from another section(s) with a particular tone quality, shape, and articulation, it should be answered appropriately.  Intonation, homogeneity of sound, crescendi and diminuendi, depend upon how well you use your musical ears.

2. Watch.  Your conductor is with you in order to assist you.  Only by watching him or her can that assistance take place.

3. Count.  The precise articulation of musical ideas cannot happen without clear organization of time.  Care must be taken in the treatment of small note values; particularly the second of two eighth notes, the second and fourth of four sixteenth notes, and the short notes after dotted notes.  Counting, subdivision and good vocalism will make short notes “live.”

4. Good Diction.  The use of words is the main factor that distinguishes a chorus from any other wind ensemble.  Unless the consonants are hard, clean and rhythmic, we have no articulation.  Unless the vowels are well-formed, well-focused and able to maintain their shape throughout the full dynamic range as well as the full length of a note value, we have no sonority.

5. Breath Support.  Taking a full breath and supporting it as you sing is key (along with good vowel formations) to a beautiful tone.  Breath support and diction are 90% of the tone.

6. Phrasing.  A definition of musical phrasing is the grouping of notes into a unit of musical thought (rhythmic, melodic, or both).  Sensitively wrought phrasing is an essential expression of insight into the musical content of a score.

7. Marking Your Music.  A pencil is a must at every rehearsal.  Choral shorthand is an individual matter.  Whatever method you use is fine – as long as it is meaningful to you.  The most important consideration is that your markings “remind” you in performance of things learned in rehearsals.

Summer Singers and the Five Ls

The Michael O’Neal Summer Singers are about to begin another summer of music making and I am very excited about the prospect.  Approximately 175 singers will gather on six Monday evenings spread throughout the summer, culminating in a concert of music by Randall Thompson.  I’ll be talking about Thompson’s music in future blogs, but today I want to say something about our Summer Singers chorus.  I find it always a joy to work with this non-auditioned group, ranging from enthusiastic amateurs to seasoned professionals.   One of the reasons we have such a wonderful time singing together is that we always try to achieve in each rehearsal something I call the Five Ls, which stand for Listen, Labor, Learn, Laugh and Love.   At the conclusion of a rehearsal, it is my goal that all participants (including myself) will have experienced each of those five actions to some degree.  We listen – to the music and to each other.  We labor – working together for a shared purpose brings enormous satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.  We learn – listening and working together will almost always lead to learning something new.  We laugh – I believe a rehearsal without laughter is an opportunity lost.  And finally, we love – of course, we should certainly make every effort to love the music we are rehearsing, but I think it is also important to try to love and care for each other.

I think if we keep the Five Ls in our minds as we enter the rehearsal room, and recognize that each of these words is an action verb, we will depart the rehearsal with a recognition that the time we’ve spent together has been worthwhile and important and has even enhanced our lives in some small way.

Summer Singers Score!

The Seventh Annual Michael O’Neal Summer Singers performed Bach to Broadway to a wildly appreciative audience this past Sunday afternoon.  Nearly 750 audience members heard 150 singers perform a program ranging from choruses of Bach, Handel and Haydn all the way to musical theatre selections from Man of La Mancha, West Side Story, The Phantom of the Opera, and Les Miserables.   The variety of our programming in that concert is analogous to the variety of backgrounds of the Summer Singers membership.  I’ve enjoyed conducting this non-auditioned chorus each summer in part because of the vast background of singing experiences represented.  The Summer Singers chorus includes individuals who might never be comfortable going through an audition procedure for our regular chorus membership to singers who are professional musicians and just don’t have the time to participate in a chorus during the regular season.  When you take these two extremes and add singers who are at every level between the two, you have The Michael O’Neal Summer Singers!  I love working with these folks for a number of reasons, not the least of which is their obvious joy in making music, and making it to the best of their abilities.  As I told them in the warm up for our Sunday concert, in choral singing we often experience the Gestalt theory of the “whole being greater than the sum of its parts.”  In other words, we are able to accomplish something together we could never achieve individually.

For seven years my summers have been immeasurably blessed by my work with these wonderful and dedicated singers.  This summer was especially rewarding.  My sincere thanks to all of them.

Singing in the Summer!

We’re about to begin the seventh season of The Michael O’Neal Summer Singers and our program this year is entitled Bach to Broadway.  Selections by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Verdi, and Parry will comprise the first part of the concert, followed by songs from Man of La Mancha, West Side Story, The Phantom of the Opera, and Les Misérables.  The variety of musical pieces in this concert in some ways reminds me of the great variety of singers we have in Summer Singers.

The Summer Singers (MOSS), unlike the regular season MOS, is a completely non-auditioned chorus, and open to all interested singers.  The wide range of experience found in the individual singers in each summer’s chorus helps make the entire effort very gratifying to me.  I love taking people of various backgrounds and skill levels and helping them become a unified and sensitive musical ensemble.  In just a few days we’ll have over 150 singers joining together in the shared purpose of making music!  I can hardly wait!

A Summer Singers Success!

The Sixth Annual Michael O’Neal Summer Singers performed Salute to America to a large and enthusiastic audience yesterday afternoon.  The chorus of 150 non-auditioned, volunteer singers presented a polished, energetic, and completely captivating performance of The Testament of Freedom (Music: Randall Thompson; Words: Thomas Jefferson), Song of Democracy (Music: Howard Hanson; Words: Walt Whitman), and arrangements of America, the Beautiful, God Bless America, and Battle Hymn of the Republic.  Rounding out the concert was a two person version of Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever on the mighty Moller organ of Roswell UMC.  The two persons performing that showstopper were Tom Alderman and Allen Baston.  Tom also serves as the principal accompanist of MOS and provided phenomenal organ transcriptions of the Thompson and Hanson pieces.  If there is an organist anywhere who could have performed this music more magnificently, I have not met him or her!

Our Summer Singers chorus (MOSS) is always a joy to conduct, but this summer was a special treat.  I don’t think we’ve ever had a MOSS more dedicated and involved than this one.  With six Monday evening rehearsals spread out over two months, it was imperative that the singers work on their own between rehearsals if they expected to perform their best.  It was clear to me that these chorus members took their personal and collective responsibilities very seriously, for they sang a concert I will remember for years to come!  Thanks to all who sang and all who attended.  Aren’t we lucky to have choral music in our lives?

Summer and Singing!

We’ve just begun the sixth season of The Michael O’Neal Summer Singers and the first rehearsal was a blast!  One hundred and fifty voices came together to sing Randall Thompson’s The Testament of Freedom, Howard Hanson’s Song of Democracy, and arrangements of America, the Beautiful, God Bless America, and The Battle Hymn of the Republic.  In a program entitled (not surprisingly) Salute to America, this summer’s chorus should perform beautifully in our concert on August 15th. 

The Summer Singers (MOSS), unlike the regular season MOS,  is a completely non-auditioned chorus, and open to all interested singers.  The wide range of experience found exhibited in the individual singers in each summer’s chorus helps make the entire effort so gratifying to me.  I love taking people of various backgrounds and skill levels and assisting them in becoming a unified and sensitive musical ensemble.  That leads me to a question!  I’m interested in hearing the views of my readers on the pros and cons of non-auditioned vs. auditioned choruses.  Share your thoughts.

Great Music for Great Spaces

The fifth annual incarnation of The Michael O’Neal Summer Singers is just days away from its performance of Great Music for Great Spaces.  The repertoire is built around music for chorus, brass and organ, both individually and in various combinations.  Including selections by Parry, Vaughan Williams, Beethoven, Pachelbel, Holst, and many others, the program promises to be a celebration of celebratory music!   It takes place at Roswell UMC in Roswell, GA, at 3 PM on Sunday, August 16. 

The 150+ singers who will be sharing their music that afternoon have been a joy to work with this summer.  The Summer Chorus of MOS is open to all interested singers.  No one is asked to audition and we always end up with a wide range of backgrounds and skill levels represented in the chorus.   The one unifying force in our group is the love of singing.  The enthusiasm has been evident from the first notes sung at each rehearsal and I will miss seeing these folks on a regular basis.  The good news is that most of them will continue their singing in other organizations this season.  There are, of course, a number of the Summer Singers who will return to the regular MOS chorus or to my church choir at Roswell UMC and I will have the pleasure of seeing and hearing them on a weekly basis.  However, a majority of the Summer Singers participate in other fine community and church choirs during the year and they will be returning to their respective organizations following our Sunday concert.   The sadness at bidding them farewell is tempered with the knowledge that they will be continuing to make great music in great spaces around the metro Atlanta area.

As I complete my summer season and anticipate the beginning of my regular season I am reminded how fortunate I am to have so many opportunies to share music making with such a large and diverse group of people.  Thanks to all of you!

Choral Memories

These past several weeks I’ve been especially impressed to see and hear the 170 or so persons who have chosen to participate in The Michael O’Neal Summer Singers (MOSS).   The background of these singers is varied, ranging from novice singers to seasoned professionals.  However, it is this wide difference in experience that, for me, makes MOSS one of my most satisfying conducting ventures of the year.  I see MOSS as a sterling example of choral music at its essence; creating something beautiful and meaningful as a group, and something we could never do as individuals.  It reminds us of the Gestalt theory in which we recognize that the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”  Choral music has provided me with so many wonderful experiences over the years, some of which were musical and some emotional, but often a combination of both.  Many times the experience has been shared with my fellow singers, although there have been instances where the group involvement has led to a very singular and personal experience. 

 All of this that I have mentioned above has created for me a lifetime of choral memories, and it is hard to imagine my life without them.  I sense that most of you who take the time to read my little “musings” in this blog have had many meaningful choral memories as well.  I wish you would share them in this space, not only as an opportunity to pay tribute to the memory, but also as a way to share with other interested persons why we all love choral music.  These memories could be based on something that happened in your childhood or as recently as last year.  I look forward (we all look forward) to hearing what you have to say.