Giving your small-school choir wings By Matthew McDaniel

Overview A brief history Life in the day, week, semester, and year of a successful small-school choir 5 year planning for your ensemble Repertoire and performance ladder from year 1 to year 5 Ensemble Culture Stakeholder relationships

A Brief History My first ensemble Coming to terms with the limitations of of my non-auditioned, Y’all Come Sing, 9-12 grade ensemble Goal setting Proving self-sustainability → Earn respect from administration and stakeholders Challenging myself and my ensemble to be better each year Growth over 5 years

A Systematic Approach to Ensemble-Building After year 1, it was clear that a predictable system could boost production Predictable development at multiple levels: Day Week Semester Year

A Day in the Life of the Choir Arrival, warm up, aural and theory skills - 10 minutes total Daily goals Dependent upon the music learning process: New music Mid-way through ink-reading Ink-learned Give examples of goals within each of the process sections above.

A Week in the Life of the Choir Weekly focus on one piece of music with other pieces supplementing rehearsal time Checkoffs - singing tests, each Friday on weekly target piece Quartets or octets - score based only on correct notes and rhythms Unlimited individual retesting Practice time due each Monday by midnight (Google Form) - 50 minutes per week

A Semester in the Life of the Choir First Semester Accessible masterwork, multi-movement piece, or themed compilation functioning as a single performance unit One school concert in the fall (Nov. or early Dec.) Supplement with one or two additional performance opportunities (community relationships, visibility) Holiday caroling (community relationships, visibility) National Anthem at sporting events (VISIBILITY!)

A Semester in the Life of the Choir Second Semester Singing valentines (repertoire distributed in the fall) Festival/competition (repertoire distributed in the fall) One school concert in the spring (mid-late May) Senior-directed repertoire Pops (student buy-in!) Supplement with one or two additional performance opportunities Graduation performance - with instrumental ensemble

A Year in the Life of the Choir Repertoire planning (begins the year before) Digital list of a wide variety of possible repertoire accessible by varying ability levels and ensemble makeups Travel planning (begins the year before) Performance opportunities near and far, financial considerations Fundraising planning (begins the summer before) How much $ does my group need to be self-sufficient? Build stakeholder trust through visibility and ensemble success (↑$)

5 Year Plan Ask yourself what your ideal choir would be like in 5 years - set goals How many students do I want in my ensemble? How often and where do I want the ensemble performing? What difficulty levels do I expect my ensemble to reach? What skills do I want students to have before leaving my ensemble? How can I teach to the highest students in the ensemble while still providing a meaningful experience for new students?

5 Year Plan My 5 year plan goals today: Have a steady enrollment of 30-40 singers (part distribution must be director led) Travel out of state every other year - compete Be competitive in every performance and classroom outcome with the 4A & 5A schools that surround my school Build a substantial music library Provide meaningful student development opportunities (as an ensemble) beyond my classroom and my baton at least 2x per year

Repertoire and Performance Ladder YEAR 1 Two part, accompanied literature, easy and medium easy repertoire Participate in a non-scored festival opportunity or do a college visit with an understanding and growth-oriented professor YEAR 2 Introduce three-part literature (SAB), easy and medium-easy repertoire Introduce simple a cappella repertoire Participate in a non-scored festival opportunity or do a college visit and also attend a festival as observers only

Repertoire and Performance Ladder YEAR 3 Three-part accompanied and a capella literature, medium difficulty Introduce four-part literature Seek a competitive festival opportunity and community exposure YEAR 4 Four-part literature with minimal divisi - never choose anything easier than a ‘medium’ difficulty, lean towards a capella literature Regular festival performance, community exposure, open the door to advanced constructive criticism of the ensemble

Repertoire and Performance Ladder YEAR 5 All HS-level and introductory collegiate-level repertoire, at least four- part, some divisi should be accessible Regular festival performance, community exposure, seek advanced constructive criticism of the ensemble, competitive performance opportunities outside of district-level festivals HANDOUT Not inclusive, but shows an abbreviated path my ensembles took through this ladder

Ensemble Culture Student Leadership: Roles & Expectations Section Leadership is the coveted position, not ensemble presidency → the glue! Ensemble Leadership → administrative tasks Director/Ensemble Interaction ‘Coach’-like mentality - What do coaches do to motivate their teams and make them successful? Environment of safety in making mistakes and willingness to accept constant constructive criticism

Ensemble Culture Music development beyond ‘me’ as the director Invite guest clinicians (don’t underestimate your peers!) Utilize an online classroom Exchange with other directors & groups Listen to other groups (good & improving) Student buy-in One-on-one conversations and work, build individual confidence Enjoyable, challenging, engaging, successful

Working with Stakeholders Developing appropriate relationships with each stakeholder group to build the ensemble: Students Parents Administrators Community