Comments on: A face is worth a thousand notes

By: June

June — Tue, 20 May 2008 22:32:07 +0000

Well, thanks Philip!

By: Amy Worden

Amy Worden — Tue, 20 May 2008 20:05:52 +0000

Many of us in my small San Francisco chorale would tell you we sing if nothing else, for the expressions on the face of our conductor, John Bush. All the many hours slogging away at practice melt away when he is pleased. I feel the same way about my other two directors.

By: philip copeland

philip copeland — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:39:53 +0000

Loved “your” post, I meant to say.

By: philip copeland

philip copeland — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:39:15 +0000

Loved our post. I’m featuring it tomorrow on our choral website: ChoralNet.

It’s an international site for choral directors that includes a blog on it’s front page. Your post was a fantastic contribution that I wanted to share with the world’s choral directors. Thanks for taking the time to write what you did.

By: June

June — Mon, 19 May 2008 23:20:46 +0000

Oh goodness…hard to remember what they sang…a little help here hon? Our four-year-old was ok with it all…our seven-year-old enjoyed it more I think. It was fun to watch him perk up when he recognized a piece. I do remember one pieced called “Sleep” which was very cool. Brian could probably describe it better than I. The two boys did enjoy sitting under a pew and sit-dancing during the upbeat encore.

By: Paul Reisser

Paul Reisser — Mon, 19 May 2008 07:59:16 +0000

You’re so right: the expressions on the director’s face can help make the difference between blah and magic.

So what did they sing? And how did your four-year-old like it?

By: sharolyn

sharolyn — Mon, 19 May 2008 05:28:29 +0000

June, you are so right! Our own San Francisco Symphony sells the choir loft tickets, when there is no choir, two hours before each performance at about 1/4 of the cost of a front row seat. I would much rather sit in this loft behind the orchestra and see what the musicians are seeing, the conductor’s front side. I can even read some of their music (thank you to my optometrist). It helps that I adore the conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas. The only caveat is to not wear a bright color, as thousands of people are facing you! To me catching the nuances of communication between conductor and musician adds exponentially to the experience.

Conversely, we were watching tonight the NY Phil on PBS and their conductor was rather expressionless with a limp baton stagnating between beats. Bo-ring!

By: June

June — Mon, 19 May 2008 03:30:21 +0000

Oh wait…was it the “front” of the house? Hmmm.