Putting the Verdi to bed

In our little corner of the world, we just finished two performances of Verdi's Requiem. It was quite the event here--six choirs (five college, one community choir) made up one large choir of over 250.

Today, my college choir had a conversation about the larger experience. There were some interesting insights from the choir members. Overall, most were quite happy with the experience.

I didn't conduct the work, but I sang. It was quite thrilling--especially the Dies Irae. It isn't often that I have the chance to be a singer again. I always return to the podium just a bit wiser, even if it's just a rediscovery of something I'd already learned once before.

A few thoughts on this experience:

• I was surprised that I couldn't hear everything the conductor said to us in rehearsal--and I was listening. Many times, he would start talking while people were still singing. We had to guess what he was talking about sometimes. (that isn't taking anything away from the conductor, who did an outstanding job in every way). My thought: I must always speak clearly and over all the noise, especially in a large choir rehearsal. An amplified conductor would have been great for some of those rehearsals.
• Remember this: never sing louder than you can sing beautifully. Some of the people sitting around me had incredibly powerful instruments. It wasn't always pretty.
• From my choir: always be respectful of those around you, even if they are younger. Some of my choir members (college students) felt like they were "looked down upon" by the community choir members. We should all value each other (and we conductors should help get that across to our members).