A STRUGGLE WELL WORTH IT

In 1982, I finally got to sing in Christmas with Robert Shaw as a member of the Young Singers of Callanwolde. 8 years after that, I would join the Atlanta Symphony Chorus. These are my wonderful grandparents – Bob and Cornelia Freeman.

I started singing because of a symphony holiday concert, specifically Christmas with Robert Shaw at the Atlanta Symphony.  The combination of the music (so beautiful, so vaguely familiar, so alive) and the connection (between the instrumentalists and vocalists on stage and the audience) inspired me to want to be a part of it.  Many have heard the story of how I eventually fulfilled my goal to don one of the famous Atlanta Symphony Chorus blue robes and sing Bach’s Dona Nobis Pacem from his B Minor Mass on that very concert.  So, I’ll spare everyone the details.  (The short version of that story is “it takes a village.”)  All I can say is that EVERYONE SHOULD TAKE THEIR KIDS TO SUCH A CONCERT.  It changed my life, led to friends and confidence that I still have, and planted a seed for a fortunate life indeed – one with music.

But, I digress.

This post is about now.  Now, I lead one of these concerts – one of these performances that is part tradition, part beauty, part fun, and all community.   The office knows how much I struggle over putting the show together.  I’m sure they roll their eyes when I change the order of the second set “just one more time.”  I know it’s difficult to see me vacillate over the right mix of tradition and innovation throughout the greater part of the year.  (Yes – I start in June, and I just made another change yesterday!) Here are just a few of the questions over which I struggle for months.

• What’s the perfect ratio of orchestra pieces to chorus selections?
• What’s the ideal balance of traditional and new?
• What’s the balance of pops and classical?
• If I repeat this one piece, is it the “same old, same old” or is it tradition?
• If I finally cut this one piece I’ve been doing for years, will I let someone down?
• Can I program everyone’s requests?  Which ones will have to wait until next year?
• What is the right length?
• Do I really need to program “Let it Snow” just because that’s the title of the concert? (Answer to that?  No! Although I do like that calypso version!)
• What piece will connect to that child who is hearing the power of live choral-orchestral music for the first time?

I tell you, it’s agonizing.

Recently, I went to the Shaw Library, and was pleased find evidence that he struggled, too.   He had the programming down to a science, for sure, but seemed to continuously fine tune things from year to year.  Here’s the second page of a worksheet from 1976.  Pieces scratched out.  Timings meticulously summed up.

This year, the Richmond Symphony’s family holiday concert (called “Let it Snow”) includes more variety than ever:

• Orchestra (Richmond Symphony)
• Symphonic Chorus (Richmond Symphony Chorus)
• Children’s Chorus (City Singers Children’s Choir)
• Richmond’s Favorite Singer Songwriter (Susan Greenbaum)
• Three world premiere arrangements by Samson Trinh
• Plus…bells, Santa, new sing-a-longs, and more bells

This kind of volume and variety is a lot to juggle!  And, it leads to even more questions.  Sometimes, being in the middle of the action of one of these performances seems a bit like leading a three-ring circus.   (I suppose wearing a clown outfit would be a bit over the top?)
But, the anxiety, the questions, the circus, and listening to Christmas music during the heat of July are all worth it!  If this concert makes just one person connect to music in a way that offers her the same kind of artistic fulfillment I’ve been fortunate to have, then my goal will have been accomplished.
And, it won’t hurt if everyone has a good time, too!
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