Opinions requested!

[foxe]

A question for all the musos on my f-list: how do you go about programming repertoire for your choir (or other ensemble) and/or how do you think repertoire should be chosen? (Please indicate also whether you are answering from the perspective of a conductor/musical director, committee member, chorister/player or any combination thereof. Oh, and

Comments

[asmodel]

The only experience I've had with assisting choosing music was when I was on MUCS committee. The first time was during a big fall out between committee and Foetus. You were on the c'tee that year too so you may remember. Some people were unhappy with the concerts chosen for the previous year. At the end of that year, the c'tee discussed the general direction we wanted the choir to go in, and from this, generically what sort of concerts we should have as the year progressed. We decided on May - big blockbuster, orchestra and venue; August - organ accompaniment, shorter, moderately well known pieces; December - with a smaller expected membership at the end of the year, a cappella.

From that we came up specific ideas and a group consensus on music for the concerts. We threw this at Foetus, and he came up with suggestions for other supporting works. This came back to the c'tee, and we'd vote.

By the next time I was on c'tee, the powerplay between c'tee and Foetus had died down. It was more a case of Foetus coming up with suggestions and/or us being invited to concerts, and the c'tee would rubber stamp or veto from what I remembered. Actually, I can't remember much of the selection process, which probably means we weren't that involved. I preferred the method of choosing the first time around. By planning the year in advance, we could achieve a balance and variety of works, take into account the choristers' abilities and preferences, and how these would improve over the year.

From a choristers' perspective, this would depend on the individual choir. Different groups of people like different types of music, have different abilities and want different things out of their choral experience. You'd be best to ask around for a general idea as to what they want.

[foxe]

Yes, I do remember indeed! It wasn't just about powerplay (although that definitely came into it) but also the fact that the then-committee included several people with a fair bit of musical knowledge and experience who had their own ideas about how this should be applied towards achieving their vision for MUCS -- just as I described what I currently do for CAOS above. The point is, though, that you can't always count on having that kind of expertise on committee, and when people have less experience/awareness or are less interested in programme selection, it does then become more of a rubber-stamping thing -- which is also fine, as long as the conductor provides guidance to be rubber-stamped.

I agree with what you say about planning the year in advance etc, but in terms of the method of choosing, this can be achieved either through the conductor doing the planning or the committee doing it or both together. I don't think that when the committee was less involved, Foetus would just be picking things at random; I do think he had some sort of strategic plan -- it just didn't necessarily coincide with what some people might have wanted.

[asmodel]

You're right, I'm sure Foetus would have a strategic plan of a description. In general, I would prefer a conductor to be open with the general direction s/he wants to go with. In the lead up to the blow out that I mentioned, this was not the case with Foetus, and many began to resent him for this. We felt that Foetus' choices were based on what looked good on his resume, whether this was the case or not. Had he been upfront about his reasons for choosing, I may not have felt this way. The second c'tee I was on didn't have a lot of expertise in choosing repertoire, but in retrospect, I would have preferred to give some general ideas before Foetus came up with a selection. I like the process Philip describes below.

As a rank and file chorister, I've generally been happy with the music selections, although there are some concerts I've not enjoyed the pieces, and ducked out. With all the waffling Foetus does, I would appreciate that some of this be put into what we're doing this year, and why. MonUCS isn't good with this either, and this could be something newcomers may appreciate. As for what you mention above, go collectivism:)