THE ART OF SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMMING:
Study, Selection and Synthesis
IL-ACDA Retreat
June 25, 2015
richard.bjella@ttu.edu
STUDY
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Collected works / interlibrary loan
Start early, don’t settle, don’t worry about ‘chasing rabbits’
Scores – on-line
cpdl.org/ handlo-music.com/imslp.org / canadianchoralcentre.ca/ madolu.com/mc/africares.html
(Africa)
4. Recordings – Spotify, itunes, you tube, hs and college choir
5. Emerse yourself in the composer
6. Colleagues: use their expertise
7. Voice matters!! Tessitura, range, age, endurance, gender, voice change
8. Instrumentation
9. Publishers: check in different countries /
10. Collections of styles: madrigal, motet, part song, chant, opera chorus, mass, music theatre, cantata,
gospel, folk music, authentic world music
11. The genius in other’s programs
SELECTION
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Purpose
Know your singers: voice, maturity, sophistication, literacy, likely soloists
Keys
Tempi
Overall goals
Poetry
Thematic material
Instrumentation possibilities
Groupings
Centerpiece
Energy flow
Risk taking
Periods
Educational purposes
Rehearsal time needed
Elements: rhythm, harmony, texture, melody, form, dynamic
Balance: Unpredictability , Consistency, Transcendence, Commissions
Budget – 80/20% rule
SYNTHESIS
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Let it ferment
Consider carefully the overall flow of your concert
Program design
Speaking in concerts: introductions, Poetry readings, notes, business
Program order
Staging – choralography, lighting, effects
Length
Duration of pieces (short vs. long)
Location of concert, lighting possibilities, sight lines, lobby space
Audience involvement, teaching pieces, post concert rituals, alumni involvement