Check out our live Performance on FRIDAYLIVE: 9:47am on Friday, May 15 with Host Genevieve Randall

LCA on Friday Live, May 15th at 9:47am. I will talk about that evening's concert and there will be a live performance by the Lincoln Choral Artists.
http://netnebraska.org/…/…/friday-live-johnny-carson-theater

Live stream start time: Friday, May 15 at 9:00am (CT)
Friday Live broadcast from the Johnny Carson Theater at the Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln with live performances from Deborah Greenblatt, Jackie Allen, Lincoln Choral Artists, and Ann Chang. Host Genevieve Randall will interview Jason Horner, the Homestead National Monument's Tallgrass Prairie Fiddle Festival fiddler Deborah Greenblatt, Bill Stephan, Launa Bacon and Peggy Gomez of Tugboat Gallery.

New Youtube Videos, Twitter, and Facebook: Ways to support and help tell about LCA

You may not know this but the Lincoln Choral Artists 

are all over the web!

We have our main webpage: www.lincolnchoralartists.org 

We have our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/LincolnChoralArtists

We have our Twitter Feed: https://twitter.com/LNKNChoir 

And we also have a Youtube page with new videos from the 

2014-15 Season: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxirJc1VoXvnruIS7ywMJzQ

So what does this mean for you? 

You can help us by visiting our webpage for information about upcoming events and joining us to sing! You can also connect to this blog, 

the Director's Connector: 

http://lcadirectorsconnector.blogspot.com/ 

You can LIKE us on Facebook, share your like, our page, and Facebook updates with your friends and family.

You can follow our Twitter feed and share our updates on your feed.

And of course you watch videos of the Lincoln Choral Artists on multiple platforms including TVs, Phones, and Pads and Computers.

Please support choral music in Nebraska 

by connecting with us!

Final Rehearsals, concluding a season, gearing up for a new next normal

It's coming...the end of the 2014-15 Lincoln Choral Artists Season. We had a great community event last week, our first InChoir Event. It was a joy to share my love of the music LCA is making. 

This week we have an all choir meeting. These annual meetings really help us understand what we've accomplished, who we've shared wonderful music with, and look ahead to new endeavors. 

First United Methodist Church will be our "Dress Rehearsal" and final rehearsal, and concert location for "With One Voice...We Begin Anew."
 May 15, 7:30 pm

We will be joining the community this summer for three events. 

Relay4Life 

            Haymarket Park

Saturday, June 27, 2015

4:00PM - 12:00AM (details for specific time TBA)

We will be joining Abendmusick for 

http://www.abendmusik.org/summersings.html

Wednesday, July 29

at 7:30 pm 

We join with the community to sing Haydn's "Creation" at First Plymouth Church.

And what could be more fun than a Saltdogs' Game! We will be singing the National Anthem for the baseball game on Sunday, August 23. 

Movin' and Shakin': movement in choir

I have been so pleased over the last few weeks to have Mandy Swanson, one of our sopranos, conducting "Baba Yetu" which will be featured on the spring concert. Mandy will be conducting. This music is inspired by the Swahili text and has African-like rhythms. Mandy is continuously telling the choir to loosen up, and move their bodies. She always sets the scene and tone for them, focusing on rhythm, clarity of text, and feeling confident but free. She encourages their minds, voices, and bodies!

Choirs can sometimes be the toughest crowd to get excited about their own music! They are focused on so many things like, diction, dynamics, tone, vowel shape, intonation...It can be hard to remember that the audience needs to see the choir look engaged. I have seen all kinds of crazy and cool ideas about how choirs should look when singing, from hand holding to full choreographed action. All of it can have a purpose and meaning. What I think is key is seeing engagement. Are the singers committed to and enjoying the sound and text they are singing? Is it obvious on their faces? In the bodies?

I can't wait for LCA to stand up and sing for the Lincoln community on May 15th. I know we can show off our choral finesse. And I hope that Mandy and I will help them communicate in song and body language the joy of singing!

May 15, 2015
7:30 pm
With One Step... Beginning Anew

and the Summit String Quartet
First United Methodist Church, Lincoln

Choral Music and the Brain

Well it's been a minute since I have posted. The Lenten season and Holy Week really make things busy in a musicians life.

Today I want to talk a little about how community singing, by this I mean either in a choir, congregation, or any kind of public group singing, affects the brain. Lots of research is being done in this field and I find it fascinating.

First I want to mention a video I plugged on the LCA Facebook page. This is a clip of John Rutter speaking about the collective experience of choral music singing. I think John encapsulates the feeling and the emotion of group singing.

But what's the science? From a recent Choral Journal article  by Riikka Pietiläinen-Caffrey it states "The science behind the mirror neuron system explains how a conductor's facial expression elicits emotions from the singers and how a singer's expressions are then transferred to the audience, thus determining how the audience will interpret and experience the performance. A number of studies have been conducted on how music elicits emotion."

In a similar article, Gary B,. Seighman notes, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Musicians in ensemble settings have felt this awareness for centuries. However, recent scientific studies are validating this adage by revealing the physiological and psychological processes of cooperative effort, especially musical collaboration. The implications of these ideas are beginning to shape our very definition of 'ensemble,' while providing new understanding of the benefits of group musical expression on the individual."

I don't have the knowledge base or the time in this blog to dive into the heavy science behind these articles, but i find it fascinating that the sense of community, relationship, the whole being stronger than the one, are all experiences I have had as a singer and conductor in choirs.

I am especially intrigued by the mirror neuron ideas that we in a sense "infect" each other with emotions. We can illicit emotions through the music, of course, but also through our presentation of the music. Instinctually I guess this makes sense. Everything from the placement of the choir, the quality of the music, and the environment a performance happens in effects me when i attend a live music event, especially a choral concert.

According to Seighman's article, "Biochemical levels serve as another mechanism that connects facial expressions with emotions in individuals. In all, singing has been linked with several chemical changes in the body; these various correlations with chemical balancing strengthen the argument that individuals who sing together synchronize physiologically."

From my perspective, though I don't want to limit the community singing experience to simply a chemical response in my brain, it is interesting to see that what I am sensing in the rehearsal and performance has deep truths in science. But returning to John Rutter's video it is still the actual experience and the participation that truly matters.

The Professional Amateurs (hopefully everyone singing in a choir!)

Below is the definition of an amateur...

Full Definition of AMATEUR- According to Merriam-Webster

1

:  devotee, admirer

2

:  one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport [or music] as a pastime rather than as a profession, [but hey if your devoted than your still an amateur!]

3

:  one lacking in experience and competence in an art or science

Origin of AMATEUR

French, from Latin amator lover, from amare to love

First Known Use: 1777

Related to AMATEUR

Synonyms

dabbler, dilettante, hobbyist, layman

I remember being in a music class and hearing for the first time that an amateur is a person who LOVES what they do. The current attachment to amateur as derogatory term takes away from the joy that comes from being a True Devotee of an activity. Of course I am talking about choral music and singing on this blog. 

Another professor, who now is located in Omaha, said to me "Making Music is Making a Living." That has always inspired me. Reading deep into that statement and realizing that life consists of times and experiences over material gain is both inspiring and very difficult. 

All these beautiful, wonderful singers who participate in choral ensembles because they are true "amateurs" is what really inspires me as the "professional" to be my best, and do my best for and with everyone I work. 

Lincoln Chorals Artists strive every week, and every concert, and every event to be Professional Amateurs. There are few things in life that are as rewarding as creating music in a group, live;  both needing and supporting each other as devotees.

So my message is to go out this week and be the best amateur at the thing you love as you can be!

Recruitment, Retention, Attention...are there really any new ideas?

I have been struggling with the ideas of recruitment and retention of singers in choral ensembles.

In my last post, 

http://lcadirectorsconnector.blogspot.com/2015/02/lee-nelson-voicing-seating-and-lincoln.html

I announced an event LCA will be holding in late April. If you are interested in singing please check it out.
Here' my dilemma however, my gut tells I should stay true to programming and planning music that is at the heart of good choral writing, but also incorporate the occasional pop oriented music. This has always been my default and the groups I have worked with including LCA, have seem to responded. 


However, the response in recruitment and attendance at concerts, doesn't necessarily match with the singers experience. This is part of the reason I am hosting the "In Choir" event I mentioned above. 

Does the community in a wide sense know what it's like to sing with a group of people who really want to sing, sing well, and sing with purpose? My head tells me no, but my gut says people need and want to experience events personally. The issue is that singing feels really exposed, even if you are singing with a group. I love and support instrumental ensembles, so I am not saying anything negative, but beyond the need to understand the instrument well enough to play in an ensemble, the instrument can function as a buffer between the individual and the audience. It can be about the player and instrument. The professionals will of course say that they are always thinking about the audience. I believe that is true. But it is still tough to stand in front of a bunch a people and open your mouth, praying the "right" stuff will come out. 

It's easy to poo-poo the pop culture and media, and say that today people are so jaded by "perfect" music they hear on their portable devices and in the car. But that's a cop out. Some of the music is great and often has the emotional quotient that really engages people. And the engagement is the key.

So on our upcoming concert we are connecting with the audiences, maybe new singers, and definitely supporters of choral music and Lincoln Choral Artists with some very unique songs.

Five Hebrew Love Songs, composed by the very popular and talented Eric Whitacre, features 5 short movements of text about love, written by soprano soloist and wife of the composer, Hila Plitmann.

Lambscapes is a collection of fun, tongue-in cheek settings of Mary Had a Little Lamb.

The Men will have some fun with a song about the importance of good tailoring, especially when it comes to your lower half.

And the women will inspire us with their tongue twisting agility in a setting of the the text "Peter Piper."

There's ample opportunity for friends, new friends, and the whole community to enjoy some great music and be apart of the event!

WITH ONE STEP — Begin Anew

May 15, 2015 | 7:30 pm 

First United Methodist Church, 2723 N. 50th Street