I love classical music, especially choral music.
After almost thirty years in the choral music scene, I still get people asking me why. The short answer is because it’s beautiful, soothing and healing. If that’s enough of an answer for you, then you can stop reading here. If you’re a classical music lover like me or if you just want to learn more about it, here’s the long answer.
Throughout my musical career, I’ve had the good fortune to perform with or study under some amazing choral conductors. The more I learned about the music I performed, the more I appreciated the power of music in our everyday life. For me, choral music has given me immense joy in happy times and warm comfort in bad ones. If you’ve ever experienced the power of music, you’ll understand how music can affect our minds and our souls. One of my singers once told me, following one of our concerts, that she’d just experienced what the term ‘sacred music’ meant. For her, the music she sang was no longer just notes on a page. It was something that was alive and it spoke to her personally.
In today’s fast-paced world, the power and beauty of classical music is more important than ever. Speed dominates our lives. We want things done and we want it done fast. Too often, we sacrifice quality for speed. I love classical music because it demands that we slow down. It requires patience, thoughtfulness and teamwork to produce something spectacular. Planning a single concert requires a great deal of research, practice and rehearsals. I’ve spent untold hours browsing through hundreds of musical scores just to select the right music for a particular concert and venue. Then come the hours of practice and the teamwork. Without these, the great opera singers, instrumentalists, orchestras and conductors wouldn’t be where they are today.
Some people would argue that music is simply a form of entertainment. They would say that it’s just for fun and shouldn’t be taken seriously. After all, anyone can sing. I agree with that sentiment, to a point. Yes, almost everyone can sing. It is our natural musical instrument after all. The catch is to sing well, without any musical accompaniment or electronic enhancements. To do that takes a great deal of time, practice and dedication. It’s a little like sports. No one would send a team full of rookies to the major leagues and expect a World Series win.
So that’s my long answer about why I love choral music. My hope is to share that love of music with you through my performances with my choirs, my pre-concert chats, my choral workshops and this web site. If you have any questions, comments or if you just want to have a discussion about choral music, please contact me.
Let’s spread the word about the power and the beauty of choral music and take it to the next level.
After almost thirty years in the choral music scene, I still get people asking me why. The short answer is because it’s beautiful, soothing and healing. If that’s enough of an answer for you, then you can stop reading here. If you’re a classical music lover like me or if you just want to learn more about it, here’s the long answer.
Throughout my musical career, I’ve had the good fortune to perform with or study under some amazing choral conductors. The more I learned about the music I performed, the more I appreciated the power of music in our everyday life. For me, choral music has given me immense joy in happy times and warm comfort in bad ones. If you’ve ever experienced the power of music, you’ll understand how music can affect our minds and our souls. One of my singers once told me, following one of our concerts, that she’d just experienced what the term ‘sacred music’ meant. For her, the music she sang was no longer just notes on a page. It was something that was alive and it spoke to her personally.
In today’s fast-paced world, the power and beauty of classical music is more important than ever. Speed dominates our lives. We want things done and we want it done fast. Too often, we sacrifice quality for speed. I love classical music because it demands that we slow down. It requires patience, thoughtfulness and teamwork to produce something spectacular. Planning a single concert requires a great deal of research, practice and rehearsals. I’ve spent untold hours browsing through hundreds of musical scores just to select the right music for a particular concert and venue. Then come the hours of practice and the teamwork. Without these, the great opera singers, instrumentalists, orchestras and conductors wouldn’t be where they are today.
Some people would argue that music is simply a form of entertainment. They would say that it’s just for fun and shouldn’t be taken seriously. After all, anyone can sing. I agree with that sentiment, to a point. Yes, almost everyone can sing. It is our natural musical instrument after all. The catch is to sing well, without any musical accompaniment or electronic enhancements. To do that takes a great deal of time, practice and dedication. It’s a little like sports. No one would send a team full of rookies to the major leagues and expect a World Series win.
So that’s my long answer about why I love choral music. My hope is to share that love of music with you through my performances with my choirs, my pre-concert chats, my choral workshops and this web site. If you have any questions, comments or if you just want to have a discussion about choral music, please contact me.
Let’s spread the word about the power and the beauty of choral music and take it to the next level.