We had some really serious thunderstorms last night, during my choir concert. We were singing in a beautiful, modern church in Fort Lauderdale, with a large, three-story vaulted ceiling. The huge space contains only pews and mosaiced walls, which means that the entire building is basically a giant drum. It was a challenge to sing against the ensuing noise, but the audience seemed to like us nonetheless. As I slowly and carefully drove the 30 miles home through the downpour, I was reminded of similar drives through snowstorms in Ohio: the futile gesture where you try to turn up your wipers, only to find they are already on high, and then the carefully ignoring of all the drivers whizzing by you. The tiniest tap on my brakes told me my car was not going to stop if I needed it to, so I crept home at 20 mph.. Eventually I arrived home, only to find that the storms hadn't yet hit Miami, so Andrew did not properly appreciate my adventure.
We've got two more concerts this weekend, and then the season is over until next August. I have loved singing with this choir. (Except when we sing Britten. There is no love lost between Britten and I.) It's challenging to sing with so many people who are almost-professional, and having extremely talented directors and accompanists makes a big difference. It makes me think a lot about teaching, and learning. Talented teachers know little tricks for getting your to think about a concept in a new way. One week I was particularly amazed at how the conductor conveyed the importance of watching her for the tempo, rather than listening to the organist (because the organist is in a different part of the room, and because that tends to make our tempo drag). We were instructed to sing at the tempo she conducted, while the organist continually varied his tempo so that we had to work against him. I was amazed that the organist had the skill to play against the conductor (it's liking singing one song and listening to another), and I was amazed that the choir could do it. I still have a lot to learn about singing, so I hope I can do this again next year. It's a big time commitment - every Monday I spend over five hours in rehearsal plus commute, but it's nice to be a learner instead of a teacher for a while.
4 comments:
I'm confused. The music works with the accompanying at one tempo and the singing at another?
It doesn't work for a performance, but it is worked as an exercise - so that we learned to watch her. In reality, when I'm in the choir, I can't always hear the instruments properly, so they don't always sound balanced or at the right tempo. I have to trust the director that she's making at all sound right as it's reaching the audience's ears.
what fun to be able to commit to something that makes something so beautiful.
Oh yes, I remember the FL torrential downpours :)
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