Charting Future - Samford A Cappella Choir

Samford University Choirs: Charting the Future

Here are some thoughts and observations I have regarding the past and future of Samford A Cappella Choir.

The Past:

Samford's A Cappella Choir was founding in 1939 as the Howard College Choir under the direction of Kathleen Martinson, an instructor at Howard College (now Samford University). In 1949, George W. Koski, a graduate of St. Olaf College and student of F. Melius Christiansen, took over direction of the choir. The St. Olaf tradition must have made a big impact on Koski because he wove many of the St. Olaf traditions into the fabric of the A Cappella choir. Koski's St. Olaf influence continues today, most prominently in the choir robes and the traditional concert-ending performance of "Beautiful Savior."

Koski’s St. Olaf experience also made a significant impact on the next director of the choir, Gene Black. In a document concerning the selection of a new conductor for the Samford A Cappella Choir, Dr. Black penned these words:

Beginning with Dr. Koski and continuing through my tenure as conductor the Choir was modeled with the philosophy of Dr. Christiansen and the St. Olaf Choir traditions. From its inception this covered a span of 50 years - 1949-1999.

Two conductors followed Gene Black, Milburn Price (1999-2006), and Timothy Banks (2006-2010). All four of the conductors have toured regionally and internationally with the choir. Dr. Price is the only conductor who has led the choir to a performance at a regional conference of the American Choral Directors Association – a performance that took place right before his retirement in 2006.

The Present:

Samford’s A Cappella Choir has incredible potential for the future and many important building blocks are in place:

the choir is well known and valued by administration the choir has a passionate alumni base


the music faculty is very strong and the voice faculty has demonstrated teaching excellence in their yearly performance in NATS and strong reputation in the state and region

a strong music major recruiting program is in place

A Five-Year Plan:

With a few changes in the current choral structure, I think the choir is destined for a great future. I see this as my five year plan:

2010-2011: Familiarize myself with the choral program, analysis of practices, routines, and fundamentals of the choir and my place on the music faculty. Produce a recording of one great piece of choral music.

2011-2012: [institution of new rehearsal plan] Instill work ethic, recruit heavily, CD recording project at end of year. (international tour)

2012-2013: Tour regionally, record often, recruit heavily. Perform at winter conference of Alabama Music Educator’s Association (AMEA).

2013-2014: Perform at Regional ACDA Conference. (UAB Concert Choir performed at 2006 and 2010 ACDA Regional Conferences)

2014-2015: National ACDA Conference possibility (a national performance will be a real challenge, but within our grasp)

Currently Lacking in Fundamentals:

I strongly believe that the A Cappella Choir is lacking in some basic fundamentals for future success: educational teaching space, adequate rehearsal time, and non-music major scholarship support. 1. Rehearsal Space. The current teaching space, Brock Hall, is a beautiful performance space. As a teaching room, however, it is inadequate for the A Cappella Choir. Over the past few years, choir members have had to set up Brock Hall for every rehearsal – a process that is quite draining over time. The size of the room and nature of the space works against student concentration; it is difficult to find the necessary rehearsal intensity in that particular space.

Although Brock Hall is a wonderful place to sing and attend concerts, it is lacking in educational support materials – there is no place to store music folders, write on a chalkboard, play a recording, or post announcements.


Because of these limitations, I’ve moved our rehearsals to the third floor of Buchanan (#304 and #310) for the Spring 2011 semester. While this space has advantages over Brock Hall, it is not ideal: the rooms are too small and there are no built-in risers in the room.

In the near future, I hope to find a time in the teaching schedule when the choir can use a room better suited to the learning and performance of choral music (Bolding Studio).

2. Rehearsal time – Excellence, when it comes to choral music, is purchased through rehearsal minutes. The current rehearsal time of 195 minutes per week is inadequate, especially in comparison to other university choirs that perform at regional and national conferences. I hope to convince faculty and administrators to support the choir with a daily rehearsal plan that encompasses a 300-450 minute range (per

week). This weekly rehearsal time is more in line with other high-achieving university choirs as well as the choral program that Samford University models: St. Olaf.

As I stated in the brief history, the Samford A Cappella Choir is founded in the “St. Olaf” tradition based on the connection of the second conductor of the ensemble (G. Koski) who was a graduate of

St. Olaf and student of F. Melius Christiansen.

However, if you compare Samford’s A Cappella Choir to St. Olaf, you see a huge disparity in the amount of rehearsal time per week (195 minutes vs. 450 minutes). St. Olaf rehearses 90 minutes per day, five days a week.


Samford A Cappella

St. Olaf Choir0

100200300400500

Weekly Rehearsal Minutes

Minutes

When you expand that comparison over the course of the entire year, you find that the St. Olaf Choir rehearses more minutes in the fall semester than Samford’s A Cappella Choir rehearses for the entire year.

In one year, the St. Olaf choir rehearses 6750 minutes and Samford’s A Cappella choir rehearses 2925.

Most university choirs across the USA don’t get 450 minutes per week. However, the choirs that frequent the stage of ACDA Regional and National Conferences get significantly more rehearsal time than the top choral ensemble at Samford University. In my experience and analysis, most outstanding university choral programs rehearse around 300 minutes per week.

If possible, I’d like to move Samford’s A Cappella Choir rehearsal to the 300+ minute standard and institute a daily rehearsal plan. Three hundred minutes is the rehearsal time threshold that we need to find and daily rehearsal reinforcement is an important component of success. Daily rehearsal multiplies the effectiveness of the choir and builds in excellence.

In the possible scheduling options listed below, I acknowledge that not all students will be able to attend all rehearsals. The increased amount of rehearsal time builds in a certain amount of grace; there will be enough time to allow for a lab conflict or similar issue.

3. Scholarship support – The music department has excellent scholarship support from the university, especially when it comes to supporting students majoring in music. Unlike other colleges and universities, it lacks significant scholarship monies directed towards the non-music major.

In the coming years, I hope to develop a financial means of recruiting top singers to Samford University that want to major in something other than music. For instance, if there is an outstanding bass or tenor that wants to come to Samford, I would like to be able to use the financial resources afforded to other outstanding students and athletes to support their matriculation and involvement in the A Cappella Choir.

Proposal and Additional Rationale


Samford A Cappella

St. Olaf Choir

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2000

4000

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Yearly Rehearsal Minutes

Minutes

Samford University’s A Cappella Choir has the opportunity to achieve true excellence in the coming years. In my interview for this position, I heard the faculty say they wanted a nationally and regionally recognized choral program.

The choir already enjoys a certain prominence at the school and serves as an ambassador to the community through performances at area churches, Baptist conventions, and other high profile events. At the current time, there is a certain mismatch in “reputation” and what the choir can actually deliver in terms of excellence and accomplishment.

With that in mind, I propose that we move A Cappella Choir to a new time in the schedule with a new space - The time and space inadequacies associated with A Cappella Choir can be solved with a time shift in the class scheduling system:

1. Move A Cappella Choir away from the time conflict with University Chorale so that both ensembles can use the Bolding Studio – the best space on campus for choir rehearsals.

2. Increase the amount of time allotted for A Cappella Choir, probably through the utilization of two time periods, a MWF time slot and a TR time slot. A few options proposed below.

3. After the section on “Possible Scheduling Options,” you see a presentation of some of the data I’ve collected from other Alabama University choral programs, other regional Baptist Universities, and national programs of considerable stature. All of them have significantly more rehearsal time than the Samford A Cappella Choir.

Possible Scheduling Options

Option 1: The St. Olaf 450 Minute Model (90 x 5 = 450)

MTWRF: 4:30 – 6:00

St. Olaf rehearses 90 minutes per week – they schedule their rehearsals at the end of the day from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. It might be possible to place this time period at the end of every academic day.

Option 2: 370 Minutes


MWF: 3:30 – 5:00 (90 x 3 = 270)TR: 2:30 – 3:20 (50 x 2 = 100)(with this option, opera would move to TR 3:00 – 4:50, M 7 – 9 )

Option 3: 370 Minutes

MWF: 2:15 – 3:10 (50 x 3 = 150)TR: 3:00 – 4:50 (110 x 2 = 220)

Option 4: 330 Minutes (a variation on Option 3)

MWF: 2:15 – 3:10 (50 x 3 = 150)TR: 3:30 – 5:00 (90 x 2 = 180)


Additional Data

Comparing Samford A Cappella Choir with Alabama programs, other Baptist universities, and nationally recognized programs

Sam

ford

Belmont C

horale

Miss

issip

pi Colle

geUAB

Brigham

Young

Univer

sity of S

outher

n MS

St. O

laf

Concord

ia0

100

200

300

400

500

Rehearsal Minutes per week

Minutes per week

Sam

ford

Belmont C

horale

Miss

issip

pi Colle

geUAB

Brigham

Young

Univer

sity of S

outher

n MS

St. O

laf

Concord

ia0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

Rehearsal Minutes per semester

Minutes per semester

Additional Data


Comparing Samford A Cappella Choir with Alabama programs, other Baptist universities, and nationally recognized programs. This chart shows actual class times and how the minutes are dispersed in the class schedule.

School Time Frame Time distribution

Total Minutes

Samford 1-2:05 3 x 65 195Local Universities

University of Montevallo

11-11:50 MW; 11-12:15 TR

2 x 50, 2 x 75 250

University of Alabama Birmingham

2-2:50 MWF, 2-3:15 TR

3 x 50, 2 x 75 300

University of Alabama Tuscaloosa

2-2:50 MW, 2-3:15, TR

2 x 50, 2 x 75 250

University of Southern Mississippi

2-3:15 MWF, 2:30-3:45 TR

75 x 5 375

University of Mississippi

2:30-3:45, MTWRF

75 x 5 375

Mississippi State University

6-7:15, MTR 75 x 3 225

Area Baptist UniversitiesBaylor 11:15 - 12:35

MWF80 x 3 240

Carson Newman 3-3:50 MTWR, Lab

50 x 4 200

Mercer University 1-1:50, MWF 12:15-1:30 TR

3 x 50, 2 x 75 300

Stetson University 60 x 5 300Belmont Chorale 12-12:50,

MTWRF50 x 5 250

Mississippi College 12-12:50 MWF, 1-2:15, TR

3 x 50, 2 x 75 300

Nationally Known ChoirsConcordia 4:30 - 6:00

p.m.90 x 5 450

St. Olaf Choir 4:30 - 6:00 p.m.

90 x 5 450

Brigham Young 1-1:50 MWF, 12:30-1:50 TR

3 x 50, 2 x 80 310

University of Utah 11:50-12:40 MWF, 12:25-1:45

3 x 50, 2 x 80 310

Millikin University 12-12:50 MWF, 12:30-1:20 TR

5 x 50 250


On Tuesday, April 19, 2011 the Samford music faculty agreed increase the current A Cappella rehearsal time from 195 minutes per week to 300-325 minutes per week.

Here are the scheduling options we are currently discussing.

Option One:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday1:00 University

Chorale1:00 – 2:05

University Chorale1:00 – 2:05


1:302:002:303:00 Opera

3-3:50Opera3-3:50

3:30 Opera 3:30 – 4:50

Small vocal ensemble 3:30-5

4:00 A Cappella Choir4:00-5:15

A Cappella Choir4:00-5:15



4:305:005:30 RECITAL

PERIODRECITAL PERIOD

6:006:307:00 Opera

7-9 p.m.7:308:008:309:00


Option Two:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday1:00 University

Chorale1:00 – 2:05



1:302:002:303:00 A Cappella

Choir 3-3:50A Cappella Choir 3-3:50

3:30 AC Choir3:30-4:45

AC Choir3:30-4:45

AC Choir3:30-4:45

4:00 Opera4-5:30

Opera4-5:30

4:305:005:30 RECITAL

PERIODRECITAL PERIOD

6:006:307:00 Opera

7-9 p.m.7:308:008:309:00


Documents

Charting Future - Samford A Cappella Choir