Continued from part 2 of ‘Playing Music from Memory’.
Like most choral conductors I have my choirs perform repertoire from memory. In my early career, though, I assumed choirs had memorization limits. One day a colleague challenged me by saying, “Michael, they know a lot more than you think they do.” Since then I have pressed my choirs to memorise all repertoire, and we practise this at every rehearsal.
In 2005 I took a girls’ choir from Australia to Europe. Three weeks before departure we decided to learn and memorise Benjamin Britten’s twenty-minute song cycle ‘A Ceremony of Carols’. The girls not only achieved this, but did so during the stressful period of final exams. Children are so capable. Teachers, coaches, mentors, and conductors should not let their preconceptions limit their students’ potential. Children will work to the standard demanded by the teacher. As a footnote to the European tour story above, we were performing ‘A Ceremony of Carols’ at the acoustically superb and gothic Minorite Monastery in Wels, Austria, and I had left the score in my hotel room. The girls were greatly amused that I would have to put my memory to the test. I had not practised conducting this piece without the score, and I was in front of a discerning and capacity audience. I berated myself; this was the first time I had forgotten to bring my score to a performance. Following the concert the girls unanimously proclaimed this performance as being our best in Europe. Perhaps this was because of the heightened communication the choir and I shared. With no score to focus on my eyes remained in contact with the choir. I missed a couple of cues, but on the whole my memory survived. This was a flow experience; the challenge required my fullest mental ability.
from ‘Learning Strategies for Musical Success’ by Michael Griffin
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‘Bumblebee: Rounds & Warm-ups for Choirs’
Bumblebee! is more than just a collection of 84 choir exercises and rounds. The author shares timeless wisdom to help you get your choir – primary or secondary – into shape.
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Public speaker, music education trainer, conductor and pianist. Author of 'Learning Strategies for Musical Success', 'Bumblebee: Rounds & Warm-ups for Choirs', and 'Modern Harmony Method'.
Learning Strategies for Musical Success 
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