Other passions: Star Wars

I have shared in this blog a lot of my passion for choral music, choirs, and singing. I've shared a little about my love of riding a motorcycle. I've alluded to my small obsession with The West Wing. But I haven't really discussed my passion for Star Wars. 

You may be asking "what does this have to do with the Lincoln Choral Artists?" or "Aren't they performing Faure's Requiem in a couple months? Why isn't he talking about that?" Well I guess I wanted to share my passion for Star Wars because it definitely is tied to my love of music. 

I can truly attribute both my love of music/ choirs and my love of Star Wars to my dad. One of my first memories is sitting on the kitchen floor watching "Empire" on our new VHS player. One of Dad's first VHS rentals was "The Empire Strikes Back." He still loves this episode, but he also a fan of Episode I. We very much disagree on that (damn Jar Jar). 

My dad is also a choir director and church musician at his core. Though he has done many things in his life, these two have always been present. I know some of his joy of Star Wars is the incredible score by John Williams. I remember listening over and over to the "New Hope" soundtrack on vinyl in my room in elementary school. This particular version had the dialogue included. So the first half hour of the Theatrical release of Episode IV is drilled into my psyche. I'm sure I have the entire movie's dialogue memorized, but I know for sure those first moments of Vader's entrance and Princess Leia's ( RIP Carrie) opening lines are immortalized for me. 

With the latest releases of "The Force Awakens" (now in my top 3), and "Rogue One" (top 2, Empire is, of course, 1) I am so thoroughly enjoying the new stories and the new scores. I'm even listening to a podcast (Star Wars Oxygen) that details and analyzes the scores of all the movies. Story telling in the way George Lucas started it, and now how the Lucas Arts story team is continuing it (good move Disney!) is probably some of the best writing happening for the big screen. I haven't gotten too much into the cartoons. But it's interesting to hear a little about them and how they are developing an all new Expanded Universe. 

But anyway, where I'm going with all this is my joy and passion for Star Wars is closely connected to my joy and passion for music, in particular choral music. Though the scores themselves don't have a lot of "choral" writing. The idea of creating a world of Stars Wars is like creating a world of sound in singing. I'm excited for the upcoming releases of The Last Jedi and the yet untitled Han movie, just like I'm excited for LCA to continue to work on Faure, perform with some wonderful Nebraska choirs in May, and plan an incredible season for next year! 

Remember: Do, or do not. There is no try. 

And also: May the force be with you, always!

Practice Makes "Perfect": or for sure, a positive group dynamic!

Today I am sharing a blog post from a choral colleague, Tori Cook, from the website chorusconnection.com

Tori Cook  January 25, 2017

Dear adult choir member,

I’ve heard that you don’t have time to practice your music outside of rehearsal.

Look, I get it. You have a life outside of chorus (and if you don’t - we should discuss immediately!). Perhaps you’re working a 40+ hour a week job, you have a family to take care, a partner that you need to spend time with, other hobbies (even other choruses!) that are equally as important to you, you’re dealing with the daily struggles of life (AKA #adulting) and you’re just tired. Trust me, SOML!

And you think, hey - I’m not getting paid for this! You signed up for the chorus because you love it.

You love the feeling that you get when a chord locks perfectly and shivers crawl up and down your spine. You enjoy the camaraderie of your fellow choir mates. You are inspired by your director and the other leaders in the chorus every day. And you love performing and making a musical impact on your community.

But here’s the thing: when you signed up for this chorus, it became more than you. You became part of an ensemble, a group, a second family. And as an individual member of this ensemble, you made a commitment to hold up your end of the bargain. And yes, this bargain includes practice outside of rehearsal.

I’m not asking for you to spend hours practicing every week (unless you want to!). But I am asking that you put in some time, any time, every week. Raise your hand if you’ve ever gone multiple weeks without practicing (sheepishly raises hand while typing). That’s what I thought. Can we all agree that this is not the kind of commitment we want to give to our choir? We are doing ourselves a disservice and we all deserve more than that! Even if it’s only putting in five minutes a week working on your toughest measure, any time is better than no time at all. 

So, here is my request: take out your calendar and choose a date and time for a weekly practice session. You don’t need to put an end time, only a start time. That way, you can rehearse for as long as you feel like. But the trick is to actually get a practice session on your schedule, start the session every week, and hold yourself accountable.

The joys of singing don’t come without some work. And we all have to work! You can’t have a chord lock perfectly if someone doesn’t know their pitch. You can’t have the camaraderie of choir if your fellow choir mates are feeling let down. You can’t have leaders who inspire you if they aren’t themselves inspired by the music. And you can’t have an impact on your community if you’re not putting in the time to accurately develop and deliver the message. 

My point: make some time, any time. And then let’s make some beautiful music together!

Sincerely,

Your passionate choir director and fellow choir members

 Pictured: The Harborlight Show Chorus (my chorus!) rehearsing at 7:30am before our regional competition. Pajamas are 100% acceptable for dress rehearsal attire.

The craziness of conductors

Mostly I'm just complaining about how good my life is today... But just as a quick update on what's happening with me, at the beginning of this month I hosted a Handbell Festival in Omaha. It was a great event! Tomorrow LCA will be on NET radio Friday Live from the Johnny Carson Theatre in Lincoln.

This Sunday I am participating in a Church Choir Festival sponsored by Nebraska Choral Directors Association in Collaboration with Grieg Zielke, Mark Kurtz, David Batter, and First United Methodist Church in Omaha. On Wednesday, Lent begins. And as a full-time church musician this season is almost busier than the build up to Christmas.













Next Friday is the LCA Gala "Crooners Over Lincoln." Then next week I am spending time with colleagues and friends at the National American Choral Directors Association Convention in Minneapolis. These are always great days filled with excellent music and building connections. But it is pretty exhausting. I know that I am privileged to be able to have a flexible working schedule and really do the work I love and serve singers and a conductor and church leader. But boy, when it rains... I am very excited for all these events. But I am also looking forward to some down time in the near future. I am blessed to great people, singers, friends, colleagues around me, supporting me and supporting my love of choral music!

Two other blog posts: Politics in Rehearsal and In Memoriam

I came across two interesting blog posts today on Choralnet. This is an online resource for choral directors. The first is a blog on what might be done to help with issues of politics coming into the community choir or church choir rehearsal. I think there are excellent points in this blog. There are no answers, but there are good questions and suggestions..

Choral Potpourri: Choral Ethics; Politics for Our Time

The second blog is an In Memoriam article about Weston Noble, giant of conductors, who passed in 2016. This blog post has a great link for a very meaningful episode of "Going Beyond Words" a choral music radio broadcast that can be heard on public radio stations across the country. In this episode, Luther College's Nordic Choir under the Director of Weston Noble, remembers Weston through the music he conducted and loved.

In Memoriam: Weston John Noble

Practice, Grit, and Learning: A link to a great broadcast by the Freakonomics Podcast

Inspiration for these blog posts always surprises me. I was doing some laundry this morning, considering what I might post today, when I realized I wasn't paying attention to the podcast I was listening to. I started to pay attention and realized I needed to go back to the beginning. (Being a child of the 80s I always want to say rewind :P) Freakonomics Radio always has wonderful interviews and stories about a huge variety of cultural, scientific, and technological subjects.

Srinath Mahankali correctly spelling his word during the 88th Scripps National Spelling Bee
(photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

This particular rebroadcast comes on the heels of another podcast they produced on practice, also very good. But with this particular episode the idea of practice, who practices, why they practice, and its effectiveness is fascinating. I encourage you to listen to the whole episode. As long time K-12 music teacher and piano/ vocal studio teacher I have admitted to many musicians that I am terrible at practicing. I do not love to practice. But I do love understanding a piece of music or a technique and this pushes me to practice. I think there are many incredible ideas in this short look at Grit and Practice. I hope you enjoy it!

How to Get More Grit in Your Life (Rebroadcast)

Bobby Troup

Bobby Troup, was an American actor, jazz pianist, singer and songwriter. He is best known for writing the popular standard "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66", and for his role as Dr. Joe Early, opposite his real-life wife Julie London's character, in the 1970s US TV series, Emergency!

Troup was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He went on to graduate Phi Beta Kappa from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in economics.He was a member of the Mask and Wig Club, a famous collegiate all male comedy sketch group.

Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra recorded "Daddy", which was number one for 8 weeks on the Billboard Best Seller chart and the number five record of 1941; other artists also recorded it in 1941, including Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, The Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby and Kay Kyser.

In 1941 he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was assigned as one of two dozen white officers to direct recruit training at Montford Point, a recruit depot for the first African-American Marines.

He had many song, TV, and movie credits throughout his life. 

LCA will be performing an a cappella arrangement of his song "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring." 

Facebook Event for Crooners Over Lincoln

Buy Your Tickets Here!

Somewhere, You'll Find Me

Few pieces of music have become as iconic as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Judy Garland's performance of this short piece in The Wizard of Oz is part of the American Songbook fabric.

 Pop, Jazz, and Classical musicians, from vocalists to cellists, orchestras and punk rock bands, have covered this song. There is both an ease and a tension in this song. Musically, the opening intervals of the title phrase - a octave followed by a half step down - sets us up with a sense of hope and a little nervousness. The text is immediately a question inside of a beautiful scene-setting statement, "Somewhere over the rainbow way up high." We are "dare[d] to dream" and wish for a world that is better and safer than our current circumstances.

I keep referring to we even though the lyrics clearly saw "me" and "I." I think this song has left the confines of one song, about, or even sung by, one little Kansas girl. In fact, Lincoln Choral Artists will before performing this as a Choral piece, many voices singing as one.

Teena Chinn's arrangement is beautiful. It includes some Jazz chords and close harmonies that tug at the confined nature of the melody after the initial leap of the opening octave. The accompaniment delicately colors and enhances the voices. I am very excited to rehearse and perform this arrangement on March 3. Please join us as we sing about a world we are all in need of...