The question was posed, and several answered, including a few from our own state of Indiana. I hope this may enlightening, or at least thought-provoking!
Jeff Carter
From:
To: choraltalk@lists.colorado.edu
Subject: Showchoir - To Be or Not to Be???
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 21:42:25 -0700
Hi,
My name is Hillery Lenz and I am a music education major at Baldwin-Wallace College. I am currently working on my philosophy about choral education in the high school setting. And what my question to you is - "Should Showchoir be an intrical part of the choral curriculum and should it be competitive or not?" If anyone has any insight for me - I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
Hillery Lenz
hlenz@bw.edu
From: jazzmich@aol.com (Jazzmich)
To: choraltalk@lists.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: Showchoir - To Be or Not to Be???
Date: 13 Apr 2001 13:13:42 GMT
I am a 28 year old woman who was a very active member of my showchoir in high school. While in high school, show choir helped me become a strong singer and good dancer and great performer (or at least potentially speaking) It did not help me become a "theory head", but my vocal projection increased, my breath support became better, my posture improved, my confidence as a performer grew immensely. Since then, I have gone to college where I received a drgree in jazz studies, and after that moved to Orlando Florida where I've been a working
professional in the field for 5 years. I work in singing/dancing groups, I sing at weddings,
churches, in the studio doing jingles, I teach voice, I instruct workshops at Disney World with choral students, and next week, I will be traveling to be a judge/clinician at a show choir festival.
So it all comes around. Perhaps this is more than you were looking for, but I wanted to give a testimonial about show choir.
The groups from places like Indiana who are HUGE competitors and do nothing all year but their 30 minute "show" to me are perhaps missing the point a little bit. I was in it for the variety and the constant new music that was thrown in my face. I had to memorize quickly and sight read often. Important tools in one's music education.
Show choir can be such an effective and fun tool in a young person's choral education process. I see classical choirs at the high school and college level standing up there on the risers looking so awkward and scared. Breathing shallowly, no utilizing their body/face as part of their vocal
instrument. When I see show choir performers (most but not all) I see music "click" for them
inside of themselves. I see them immersed in the moment, active, engaged, attached.
Should show choir be competitve? Sure. But there HAS to be time in the cirriculum for new music, for theory learning, for technique....
-Michelle
From: choral@musicmart.com
To: choraltalk@lists.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: Showchoir - To Be or Not to Be???
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 14:34:59 -0700
I am an observer that has watched show choirs develop here in my city for the past 6 years. Two of my voice students are in the show choir at their school. First, let me say that I think the idea of show choirs is a good one because of what Michelle said about vocal production, stage presence,
etc. But other aspects of the show choir have been blown way out of proportion. The parents constantly complain about the extra rehearsals, how expensive it is to keep up with the costs of the show choir and the inappropriateness of the costumes. The competitiveness of the show choirs in this city has taken on a maliciousness that is very, very ugly.
Why not have a weekend workshop for the participating schools and a concert featuring each one with a combines number at the end. Rather than tearing down each other with competitions maybe we should see how to bring them together to learn to be productive.
KISS
Verallen Moore-Edwards
Music Mart
Subject: Re: Showchoir - To Be or Not to Be???
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 17:00:31 -0500
I haven't worked in a high school setting, but have directed what I will loosely interpret as "show choirs" at university level, and have had many, many graduates of high school programs audition for me (or decide not to audition!).
I assume that you know the terminology is very inexact. Some people have very specific criteria in mind when they talk about "show choir," "swing choir," or "vocal jazz ensemble." Other people use the terms generically.
For myself, I feel that the relatively unstandardized form of all these different ensembles has been a positive thing, allowing each ensemble to take on its own personality that reflects the director's specific interests and experience. Unfortunately I see a creepting standardization taking place such that all vocal jazz sounds alike, all show choirs do similar shows, and I haven't heard the term swing choir since I left Indiana in the late 1970s. This creeping sameness is partly the result of competition, but even moreso by the desire of publishers to categorize and
standardize their libraries of arrangements.
>From my own experience, I would answer your first question by saying that some show choir experience should be available to all qualified students in high school. In a small school, this could be part of what THE choir does, while not neglecting other aspects of choral music. I had a very fine student come to my ensemble out of such a small school choir, and while she decided to stay with show ensemble music at the college level (and is now a working professional in Nashville), she had the musical background to make that decision.
In a school that is large enough to offer a variety of choral experiences, I do believe that show choir should be one of those experiences. Why? Simply because some students find one kind of music and one kind of performance standards better to their liking or better for their particular
talents or personality than others. But secondarily because every type of musical style has its hierarchy of development, and a student who has learned the basics of live entertainment performance in high school is often better qualified and more likely to step up to the next level in
college. And college experience, in turn, is preparation for entry-level jobs in the entertainment industry. My philosophy was always that my college ensemble should be a completely positive experience for every member, but at the same time it should be the best basic training I could
possibly give to the 2%-10% who might actually attempt to move to the next level. In this sense I thought of my ensemble very much as if it were a varsity athletic team, with the singular difference that every time we performed there didn't have to be a loser!!
What gives a show choir experience its value? Without disparaging other musical styles, which all have their own unique values, this is music that is the music of America and the music of our time. Whether you are into musical theater, pop music, or jazz, this is the music that touches (or
has touched, for earlier songs) more people's lives and more people's emotions than any other kind of music in the 20th century. I've had pretty good musicological training, and I'm convinced that for those very reasons this is the music that will be studied in coming centuries. But this is also music that is often associated with "life on the road" and all of its dangers including drugs, booze, sex, and so forth. It seems to me that not only can we bring this music into the schools but we must, so that students can learn that the music and the musical style don't necessarily have to be associated with a negative lifestyle as they so often are.
What are entry-level jobs in entertainment? Some of the best are summer theme-park jobs. For the most part those are fairly protected jobs--important to parents' peace of mind! They don't have the ambience of night clubs, lounges, bars, etc. And the parks deliberately seek out
college students for these jobs. The best of my college performers were pretty successful at breaking into this entry level in local theme parks. Opryland had higher standards and expectations, and the Disney parks higher yet, but I had students break into both. Cruise ships are another entry-level position. Musical theater is another, although making the break from unpaid to fully professional status can be tough.
I always programmed our concerts with a lot of variety, thinking about the concert as a theme park in which we took the audience from one show to another--the country show, the patriotic show, the dance show, the contemporary hits show, etc.--instead of their having to wander around discovering all these different shows. This also opened opportunities for students with different strengths to show off their talent in different situations, unlike vocal jazz which tends to approach every song the same way.
Now, as to your second question about competition, I admit to being ambivalent. I have had very experienced, highly recommended high school students NOT audition for my ensemble because they had been overworked, overcompetitioned, and burned out in excessively demanding high school programs. Any experience that turns students off to music and to
performing, whether it is a cappella choir, show choir, vocal jazz ensemble, or barbershop chorus has negative pedagogical value. The same thing can happen in theater and, I suspect, in many other facets of high school activities when a motivating teacher goes beyond the limits of
reasonablness. And of course the same thing happens in high school athletics, although the "career path" for the best athletes is clear and is available to those who are motivated to excel.
I do think competition of some kind can be good motivation. After all, where do the champions" come from who win Tchaikovsky competitions, Olympic skating medals, or Boston Marathons? Competition is part of life, and we do our students the most good by helping them learn how to deal with it, how to deal with failure, and most important how to deal with success. For me the best competition is with yourself, to improve your performance. The next best is within an ensemble, as long as the director can keep that competition postive and the group's attitude supportive, again helping individuals improve themselves. The least important is probably
interscholastic competition, where both the motivational factor and the dissapointment factor are vastly multiplied.
Sorry for the long ramble, but you asked! All the best to you in your studies.
John
John & Susie Howell
Virginia Tech Department of Music
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:John.Howell@vt.edu)
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
From: Brian Coleman
To: choraltalk@lists.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: Showchoir - To Be or Not to Be???
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 11:06:38 +0100
I've been directing show choirs for six years and have seen how it improves the students' performance ability first hand. With my HS group, their purpose is more community service than competition. We perform for civic and school functions and really serve as ambassadors for the school district. In the last year we have performed for church suppers, retirement communities, the city Christmas tree lighting, business parties, an economic summit from Bulgaria visiting Dayton, and we just got back from Disney World (performance and workshop, no competition). We will do a PAC "competition" later in May, plus about 5 more community performances. Not counting the Disney trip, the students have spent less than $200 each on
costumes and expenses. Last year I took them to a competition in Indiana and was blown away by the excessive nature of some of the groups that we saw. There were several show choirs with 40 or more members and one mother I talked to said they had spent over $800 for her daughter's costumes for just that year (she was a senior and had 2 or 3 new dresses for show choir each of her 4 years)!!! Where do groups like this perform, other than a stage or gym floor? Certainly not in the venues that my group most often uses. I keep the show choir small enough that they can perform in tight spaces but still do full dance, not just waving their arms around with jazz
hands. :-) This year I have 14 strong singer/dancers who have no problem giving enough sound to fill a room. Our spring show is 25 minutes and fits into a 16x20 performance space (with or without platforms).
You have to decide were your show choir fits into your overall program; how it serves your school district, community and most importantly, the students; and how the funding will effect those involved. It is a difficult balance, but the rewards are high (and I'm not talking about
trophies that are 6 or 7 feet tall).
Brian Coleman
West Carrollton Middle and High School, Ohio
From: The Swartzendrubers
To: choraltalk@lists.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: Showchoir - To Be or Not to Be???
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 08:18:54 -0500
I'm very interested to read all the positive remarks about show choirs because I have such negative thoughts myself. I am a church, community children's choir director in a medium-sized Indiana city. My very talented children grew up in a school system that had show choirs as their only kind of choral music. The outfits they wore were expensive and way too revealing and the music unquestionably inappropriate for teens to sing. My daughter, who with the Symphony Chorus sang solos in Rejoice in the Lamb, etc., sang as the pinnacle of her senior year "Love Shack". The choirs did no music reading, learning everything from tapes. In fact, one big reason I began our community children's choir, which runs through HS, was to provide a place where real music skills and great music were taught. I feel like our children were cheated by only singing pop music they could already sing along with the radio.
Laura Swartzendruber
Kokomo Children's Choir
From: "Craig, Daniel R"
To: "'choraltalk@lists.colorado.edu'" <choraltalk@lists.colorado.edu>
Subject: RE: Showchoir - To Be or Not to Be???
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 11:10:39 -0500
I have sat here for sometime thinking of how to approach some of the very same issues. After directing a University Show Choir for ten years, I would like to offer some of the following thoughts.
Firstly, the majority of students from a show choir backgrown who come to me to audition have rarely seen a classical piece of music. They rarely have sight reading ability. Manytimes they have overblown voices that are either raspy from four years of screaming or they are bairly audible from four years of being a "filler" person.
Secondly, I resorted for one year to reducing my show choir to cordless mics so that they could be heard over the band. This was a great idea, but in the end, the dancing detracted, as usual, from the music.
After ten years of putting up with the "My show choir got a 1 from contest therefore I qualify to sing in any choir but don't expect me to dare sing anything but a chorus of FAME" mentality, (sorry for the run on) I have decided to reformat my group. The former USI Mid-America Singers will now be re-auditioned and re-named the USI Chamber Choir. We already perform
a madrigal dinner at Christmas. I intend to have them singing all historical periods next year. Since we have two hours of rehearsal a day, five days a week, we will be using this large amount of time to teach actual sight singing, and performance practice rather than rote teaching the notes
and hoping that the men can dance. This will no doubt cause a riff in the Southern Indiana show choir world, but at least I will be able to retire in a couple of years from this school with the knowledge that I was able to teach a few students to read music and to appreciate the finer things of life.
I leave show choir production having enjoyed it, but glad that I have now grown up.
Grace and Peace,
Daniel Craig
From: John Howell
To: choraltalk@lists.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: Showchoir - To Be or Not to Be???
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 19:32:12 -0500
There have not been a lot of replies on the Show Choir question, which is kind of too bad. It's a valid question that could use some serious discussion. I certainly don't expect to change anyone's mind on the issue, but I would like to respond briefly to a couple of the posters on this
question.
Laura Swartzendruber wrote:
>My very talented >children grew up in a school system that had show choirs as their only
kind >of choral music.
While I believe in the value of show choir experience, this is a limiting situation, I agree.
>The outfits they wore were expensive and way too revealing
Two separate but valid observations. The first question is whether uniformity of dress is essential, but that isn't just a question for show choirs. It has been standard practice for any and all choirs for centuries, dating to when the choir was made up of monks who dressed alike
anyway and progressing through a time when non-religious singers vested for services. The practice was taken over into secular singing and is the norm in all kinds of choral music.
The expense question is one of values. For my college show ensembles I always tried to keep the best, most attractive look at the least expense, but when it took a little more expense to look terrific, we spent it.
But the more pertinent question is who pays for the wardrobe? Aside from dance shoes, hose and socks, and appropriate underclothing I did NOT ask the singers to pay for wardrobe. I was lucky enough to be in a situation where the ensemble itself generated funds through performing, and that income covered wardrobe expenses. Can't happen in high school? Who buys the band
uniforms?
It's hard to find common ground on the "revealing clothing" question, because some people will always prefer the Appalachian Spring look while others go to the mall with their underwear showing! I was well indoctrinated the two summers I directed shows for Disney, and carried
their philosophy into my college ensembles. Dance clothing is designed to move well, not to be revealing, but to some a leotard and tights would be taken as too revealing. We always used dance skirts that were designed to move, to swirl, and to lift. That's what dance skirts do! But we also provided the girls with dance tights or leotards, and made sure that they were color coordinated with the outfits so that when the skirts swirled there was no question that the audience was seeing costume and not underwear! And it was the girls themselves who when given a choice, asked for "French cut" tights because of the longer line they give.
Decolletage is totally unnecessary. We insisted on proper bras for the girls and dance belts for the boys, as being important to the look of dancewear as well as being protective. And we also costumed the girls in pants for a contrasting look.
>and the music unquestionably inappropriate for teens to sing. My daughter, who with the Symphony Chorus sang solos in Rejoice in the Lamb, etc., sang as the pinnacle of her senior year "Love Shack".
Again, very much a matter of personal taste. At least since "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1911) parents have complained about every change in their children's clothing styles and musical styles. It was Fred Waring who, if he didn't "teach America to sing" as advertised, at least did establish that our rich heritage of popular music can be just as legitimate as European classical repertoire and can be sung with just as much musicianship and artistry. Any director who chooses repertoire without those important things in mind is doing a poor job, but that shouldn't
limit the repertoire per se. It really is possible to sing, and to sing well, in more than one style! And it makes for a well-rounded performer to be able to do so. We did "Love Shack," as a spoof, and as part of a Contemporary Medley, and it was great entertainment, musically valid in
the setting we placed it in, and not inappropriate at all for students. (Yes, there's plenty of music I would NOT have considered programing, and a very few things that I did program but did make some word changes, but we did a bit of Rap for fun.)
>The choirs did no music >reading, learning everything from tapes.
I've been in both situations. The Sweet Adelines Chorus I directed for 2 years was used to learning from tapes (AFTER a thorough live rehearsal or three of the music!). My college ensembles learned from the page, and the arrangements were often enough very challenging. More and more people are using learning tapes today, not just in show choir music but in
oratorios and other "traditional" situations. My personal preference is to do it in rehearsal, where you can make adjustments and drill on the hard places.
>In fact, one big reason I began >our community children's choir, which runs through HS, was to provide a >place where real music skills and great music were taught.
And more power to you! My wife did much the same with her youth choir at church. And those kids were perfectly aware of what was good music and what was junk. But it's a little unfair to say that all popular music is junk just because it's popular. 'Tain't so!!
>I feel like our children were cheated by only singing pop music they could already sing
>along with the radio.
And if you have a station that plays good classical music, they shouldn't have the opportunity to sing it because they can "sing along with the radio"? This is an argument that has been used for many years by those who really DO believe that there is no place in education for popular
culture simply because it's popular. I couldn't disagree more, and commented in an earlier post that school is the place to demonstrate that the music can have artistic value separate from the lifestyle values it may be associated with in the entertainment industry.
Daniel Craig wrote:
>Firstly, the majority of students from a show choir backgrown who come to me
>to audition have rarely seen a classical piece of music. They rarely have sight reading ability.
Then their musical development has been rather one-sided and limited. As for sightreading, allow me a personal story. The first summer I directed a show for Disney, I had a cast that had passed rigorous auditions, including a "sightreading" check. The first day of rehearsal I discovered that half of them could not read a note, and one boy could not sing anything but
the melody. When I was asked to direct the vocal auditions the following year, I decided that what I needed to know was not whether they could sightread, but whether they could learn a harmony part quickly, retain it, and sing it along with the other parts, exactly what they would be expected to do in putting our show together. I didn't care whether they accomplished it by
reading, by ear, or by prayer and fasting, just whether they could do it or not. My system worked, and we had the best, quickest learning casts in the history of the program that summer.
>Manytimes they have overblown voices that are either raspy from four years of screaming or they are bairly audible from four >years of being a "filler" person.
Any vocal teacher who allows years of screaming should be drawn and quartered. No teacher has the right to abuse voices, and no teacher who lacks the skills to identify and help problem voices should be allowed to teach. I often had to put singers on vocal rest, and I did it. It
sounds like what you're actually describing are those who get used as soloists and those who don't. Not hard to get around that situation if you determine not to play favorites and to create opportunities for self-improvement.
>Secondly, I resorted for one year to reducing my show choir to cordless mics so that they could be heard over the band. This was a great idea, but in the end, the dancing detracted, as usual, from the music.
Good, valid points. At least you were using a band and not recorded accompaniment! Balance is a real problem, no question. There are ways to solve the problem. We did use cordless mics for soloists, but our usual setup was two people on a mic so they could play it closely, matched by both height and vocal quality. We got balance by working hard to get it, and by teaching the band that amps can also be turned DOWN!
Amplification has been part of vocal technique since the 1920s. It's our job to use it properly, and to teach students to use it properly.
Dancing need not detract from the music, but it has to be a careful balance and it takes more rehearsal time. It's a balance that professionals have to maintain every day in Broadway musicals and in shows that combine singing and dancing. It's our job to teach students how to find and keep that balance. Dance need not detract if you have a musically sensitive choreographer.
To each his own, of course. Popular styles do NOT automatically mean poor vocal production unless you let it happen. Much more damaging to young voices is asking them to sing musical theater or opera before they are technically ready to do so! Enjoy what you're now doing.
John
John & Susie Howell
Virginia Tech Department of Music
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:John.Howell@vt.edu)
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
From: "Craig, Daniel R"
To: "'choraltalk@lists.colorado.edu'" <choraltalk@lists.colorado.edu>
Subject: RE: Showchoir - To Be or Not to Be???
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 08:40:09 -0500
John has many valid points. I am not saying that popular music is not valid. However, I think that in my situation, the level of finances to mount the production was too high, the level of musicianship that was coming to the school was too low, and the hype around one type of music being the only one favored was too much.
I applaud anyone who can strike the balance that you mention. At the same time, I believe that the importance given to this genre far out-weighs the benefits to the future of our students, unless they plan to make community musical theatre their vocation or hobby. I am looking forward to a more (forgive the comparision to church music) "blended" approach to this argument. My goals will be to serve to the community, upon graduation, a non-music major student who can actually sightread, sell a song, and tell you exactly what cultural perspectives are important with regards to each historical period, including pop styles. I also hope to have a few good concerts, stay within my budget, and represent my school with the finest product I can produce given the support that is available.
Grace and Peace
Daniel Craig
University of Southern Indiana