I used to like choir. Once upon a time, it was fun and entertaining and I enjoyed going. That time is not now.
For the first part of this semester, we were hammering away at Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, so that 9 of us could go sing it in Hawaii. And while that was all fun and shiny, the fact that we still had a little more than a month of class left was problematic. Our director does have a point that the choir needs to be visible and give more concerts so that we get some of the precious little money to be had around the community-college scene. However, the way she’s decided to be visible is really getting some of us steamed.
Simply put, the music she’s having us do is CRAP. We got ELEVEN new pieces the practice after the Mozart concert, and fully half of them are the type that need twice the time we’ve got and half the accompanying repertoire. Since then, we’ve received two more pieces, one of which was a shock because I actually knew it and the other of which was a shock because it was actually pretty. That brings the total of good songs to what, four? Not counting the piece she hand-picked a group to do and ended up with me anyway when one of them walked. (I’m still snickering about that one.) Add to this the fact that we have yet to hear most of these all the way through and correct. How are we supposed to work toward doing these songs well if we don’t know what they’re supposed to sound like?
Two things I don’t think she realizes:
1. We have lives. We have jobs. We have commitments that are not choir and that, frankly, come first. And when we have a goal of six hours of practice outside of class set for us by someone who is demonstrating that she doesn’t give a shit about our lives, those of us who can’t meet it aren’t going to bother trying.
2. People all around the world are more likely to do a thing when they enjoy it. And for adults to be told, in relation to an activity they ostensibly do for recreation, that they must do it a certain way whether they like it or not is NOT conducive to cooperation or to adaptation.
What I’m really hoping for is that when everybody’s gotten there tomorrow night, she asks if we’ve practiced the six hours and dismisses everybody who admits to not having done it. And if that happens, what I hope is that over half the choir is dismissed and that it’s the good half.
