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

[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:)