Score! Unpaid church choir watches conductor!

My choir sang so well last Sunday!  We rehearse only on Sunday mornings, with seven people singing last week.

The anthem was “My Lord, What a Morning.”   This particular arrangement included tempo changes, ritards, fermati, and some long phrases.

During the rehearsal, the 3 sopranos were having a discussion on the side.  When I asked if they had a question (so we could proceed as a group), one soprano said, “We were deciding where each of us could breathe to do this phrase.”  YES!  I intend to encourage that sort of discussion in the future.

The ritards and tempo changes required that everyone look at me to stay together.  I ensured that everyone knew exactly where they needed to look up, repeating exactly the same thing 3 times during the rehearsal.  After that, I demonstrated how to hold a choir folder up so as not to be singing to the carpet.  One soprano said, “My glasses don’t do that!”

For the first time since I became Director of Music in late January, everybody looked up!  We were always together.  Tempo changes were no problem, nor were ritards and fermati.  The dynamics were wonderful.  Everyone listened to each other, resulting in good balance.  And the balance adjustments we rehearsed to accommodate the range and voicing of various parts of the piece were there when the time came to sing the piece.

Fourteen eyeballs.  What every conductor loves to see.

Members of the congregation approached me after the service to say how much they had enjoyed the anthem.

I’m happy!  This unpaid, dedicated choir has improved so much!

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