The wind blew. The rains fell. The people sat in darkness. And there was luminous music. Thus were the simultaneous beginnings of two forces: the arrival of hurricane Isabel on the East Coast and the opening of the 15th National Choral Conference at The College of New Jersey. Hosted annually by the American Boychoir and focusing on the choral art of children's voices, this conference attracts participants chiefly for two reasons: one, the American Boychoir, principal resident choir for this conference; and, two, the internationally recognized clinicians who in open rehearsals and workshops are featured each year. Kari Ala-Pöllänen, conductor and artistic director of Finland's famed Tapiola Children's Choir gave the downbeat on Thursday evening, September 18, as featured clinician, while Isabel moved from sea to land. Thoughts of external events faded quickly, however, as the rehearsal beginning with Finnish works gathered momentum. Fading quickly, too, were the stage lights due to a hurricane-induced power outage leaving choir, Pöllänen, and participants in ethereal, overhead emergency lighting midway through the rehearsal. Continuing with Bach's Wir eilen mit schwachen doch emsigen Schritten, music and light transported the choir to conditions closer to Bach's own St. Thomas Church than before. Visual sense yielded to aural and the choir's sound became infused in luminous warmth. It was a moment that seemed to confirm the power that great vocal music has in creating light of its own. This premise was to be severely tested when without warning emergency lighting failed altogether, leaving 82 choristers, conductor, accompanist, and participants in absolute darkness. Pöllänen, totally unimpressed by this turn of events (what is darkness to a Finn anyway?), pressed forward, urging the choir to sing from memory to the end. With the restoration of lighting a few minutes later and concluding remarks having been made by conference manager George Swope, some hurried with diligent steps to the exits while light was still to be had, and disappeared deep into the wind- and rain-streaked night to their respective destinations. So was the opening evening of the 15th National Choral Conference. There were to be more power outages the following morning, but the worst was over and the architectural feature of a large skylight just behind the risers on stage guaranteed some illumination at least for the following morning.
Held annually since 1988, the National Choral Conference attracts choral directors from across the country. The high caliber of the American Boychoir, featured clinicians, and workshops have made attendance at this conference a yearly event for many of the participants. Some past guest clinicians include Gerre Hancock, George Guest, Doreen Rao, Henry Leck, Anton Armstrong, and Andre Thomas among others.
Upon return to the music building the next day, participants had the opportunity to meet directors of children's choirs during continental breakfast before the first of two major rehearsals showcasing the American Boychoir and clinician. Joining the American Boychoir on stage were members of the Princeton Girlchoir (Janet Westrick, music director), who have become a regular presence at this conference. After opening remarks and introduction by Vincent Metallo, director of the American Boychoir, Pöllänen once again walked onto the stage and took the combined choir through several warm-up exercises. These sessions, despite their informality, perhaps reveal most what clinicians value in choral philosophy, sound, and the processes which they utilize to arrive at their desired objectives. Pöllänen in his manner with the choir seeks less to electrify through his own charisma than to subtly draw out the energy and personality which he recognizes to exist independently in each voice. "We encourage their own personal skills and personal way of singing," says Pöllänen in describing his philosophy as director of the Tapiola Children's Choir. "Their personal way of singing is their strength, but we are trying to develop it so that it is flexible. We give them a great deal of responsibility."
Pöllänen is a contrast to the megawatt incandescence of recent clinicians to this conference. He does possess the requisite gravitas of artistic conviction coupled with the power to motivate, yet his artistic influence upon the choir operates in a manner that may not be readily apparent--like the irresistible progress of a glacier--imperceptible at first, yet ultimately hewing out deeply a musical landscape.
The works Pöllänen selected for this conference, some being signature works of the Tapiola Children's Choir, are likewise full of musical landscapes. The sheer complexity of some gives an accurate picture of what the Tapiola Children's Choir is capable of, and this is where the common understanding of the term "children's chorus" and what is normally associated with them, ends. "Since the founding of the Tapiola Choir in 1963, a great number of Finnish and international composers have since collaborated with the choir," says Erkki Pohjola, founder of the Tapiola Children's Choir. "And so a quite new and artistically high level of repertoire has been born, completely devoid of all the stock 'music for children' mannerism." Two of the works in particular, Aglepta and Jaakobin pojat (see below for listing of conference repertoire), both highly avant-garde and expressive, utilize the full range of capabilities of the voice as an instrument. A more conventional work which deserves mention is the beautiful Water Under Snow Is Weary which uses an old familiar melody from Kalevala (the national epic of Finland), known by every Finn as the Kalevala tune. A work of exquisite colors and shades, one encounters in this music the rare expression of that which is totally unaffected, genuine, and serene.
The second day was built around workshops. Participants had to choose one class from four different topics for a morning session and similarly for an afternoon session. Topics dealt with vocal pedagogy, fundraising, choral repertoire, choral sound development, etc. The culmination of the conference was the final concert featuring both the American Boychoir and the Princeton Girlchoir in combined and separate offerings of conference repertoire. Following this was a tour of the American Boychoir School.
Vincent Metallo, now in his third year as director of the American Boychoir has this to say about the National Choral Conference. "I think this conference will be very helpful to anybody who's a music educator, anybody who's involved in church music, anybody who directs children or even adults because what will be provided for them will be an incredible opportunity to see different clinicians and staff of the American Boychoir work with boys and or possibly girls in rehearsal methods, techniques, and conducting techniques. It will give them new ideas, new ways to reach out to their children, new ways to build their program. There's so much that I think is provided at a conference like this."
As to the future of this conference, organizers plan to take the next year off to rethink what this conference should do. When asked to describe the 15 years of this conference, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, associate director of the American Boychoir and conference organizer called it "A beginning--the beginning of the National Choral Conference, and it's a cycle that has ended." According to Malvar-Ruiz, one can expect to see a different conference when the next one takes place, one that in his words will be focused more on "education and process than on result."
Midway through the conference, hurricane Isabel having subsided and the conference well underway, Pöllänen was kind to grant an interview. He spoke on a variety of topics ranging from the current state of music education in Finland to his early musical experiences. Here are some of his thoughts.
DS: What advice could you give to young choral directors today?
KA-P: How long of a lecture would you like to have?
DS: Could you perhaps say two things?
KA-P: It's very difficult to choose--there are so many things I could say, but first of all, I think they should have confidence in the children. I know many, many young conductors who have confidence mainly in themselves and perhaps, I hope, they have a basic idea of what they are doing. But they have to have confidence also in the children because the children can do much more than adults would otherwise believe. Just give them possibilities. Give them space to develop themselves. I think that is one very important thing which you have to do.
And the other important thing is that every children's choir conductor should analyze themselves. Why they are doing this work? Are they doing this for themselves? Are they using the children to make their own career or are they giving of themselves through their education? Many young conductors who perhaps have had a very good education approach their work in a very technical way. They don't think of it educationally. I think it is very important to realize that basically to conduct childrens' choirs is to educate--to give them a place to grow up. That makes a very big responsibility--very big--much more than in adult choirs, because if you have a good conductor of the children, you have with music the key to their souls. You can make a very big influence on them. And you have to know what you are doing and why, because if you do wrong things, that can influence them for the rest of their lives. Since they are children at that age, when they are in the children's choir, they accept and take many influences, good and bad. And what you can give them you have to give carefully. You have to consider very carefully the value of what you are teaching them. I think the music is not the main thing. I think the music is not the goal. It's a tool. It's a tool for education. And I think many conductors don't realize that. They just do the music and they are happy if it goes well and that's all. But the children receive from them many other things than musical things. And many young conductors, some older ones, too, don't realize that. They move many things through the children which are not very valuable. So, they have to analyze themselves--what they do, why they do this. I think that is very important.
2003 National Choral Conference Repertoire List
The American Boychoir
Ave Regina Coelorum, Rheinberger
Psalm 150, David Willcocks
Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord, Moore
The Princeton Girlchoir
Tutira Mai, (Maori folksong), arr. Anthony Ritchie
Shine on Me, trad. spiritual, arr. Rollo
Music Down in My Soul, African-American spiritual, arr. Moses Hogan
Combined Choir
Water Under Snow Is Weary, Harri Wessman
The Land of Music, Ikka Kuusisto
Let It Shine, trad. spiritual, arr. Ala-Pöllänen
Wir eilen mit schwachen, doch emsigen Schritten, J.S. Bach
Aglepta, Arne Mellnas
Jaakobin pojat, Pekka Kostiainen
