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Conducting During COVID:
Conducting During CO
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V
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What is possible and ho w has the
What is possible and how has the
role of the conductor changed?
r ole of the conductor c hanged?

B Y R A C HEL CAR L S ON AND SCOT H ANN A - W
BY RACHEL CARLSON AND SCOT HANNA-WEIREIR

Spending hours in front of a hearsals can be easily adapted to a learning and performing environ-
mirror fine-tuning the most sub- remote music making, and we can ment that many are already using in

tle of wrist flicks to maximize our focus on what kinds of tools contin- other areas of their lives (provided

expressivity of gesture might feel ue to allow our musical intelligence, they have reliable internet, which is
less relevant during the COVID-19 the core of our conducting experi- of course a larger access and equi-
pandemic. With so much of our ence, to guide and inspire our sing- ty issue). Unfortunately, these soft-
choral music making moving on- ers to perform their best, no matter ware were not specifi cally designed
line, it feels like all of our previous where these performances occur. for live-remote music making, so
musical training that made us ex- Of all the many challenges fac- the conductor must navigate many
pressive and eff ective conductors ing the conductor, this article ad- challenges when using them for

and teachers is now no match for dresses three specific topics. First, choral rehearsal and performance.
these new, unfamiliar circumstanc- how do we adapt our gesture and The second option is a low-latency
es. It is true that while there are rehearsal technique for online syn- platform designed for musical col-
still gestural ways to communicate chronous rehearsals and perfor- laboration across the internet, such
with our ensembles over video con- mances? Second, what is the role as JamKazam or Jamulus. While
ferencing software or live-remote of the conductor in creating virtu- these software require more com-
performance tools, our gesture is al choir projects with pre-recorded plicated setup, with patience, some
not currently the primary mode of individual videos? Finally, how do technical knowledge, and proper
conducting our singers. we train and educate early-career equipment, these tools can allow
Conductors are managing prac- conductors during and in response for live rehearsal and performance
tice tracks, recordings, volume to this pandemic? that can feel much more like we are
levels, and a host of apps and pro- When meeting our choirs syn- singing together in the same room.
grams in the hopes of still creating chronously online, two diff erent
music together. Of course, new environments are available. The
circumstances require new ways to first is the mass market, high-laten- Conducting High-Latency

make music, but at the same time, cy and low sound quality environ- Video Conference Rehearsals
some of the tried-and-true method- ments of video conferencing soft- Running live-remote rehearsals
ologies of rehearsing, teaching, and ware like Zoom or Google Meet. on Zoom, Google Meet, or a similar
performing are still fundamental to These software have the benefi t of video platform is much more tech-
how we lead our ensembles virtual- being widely available and already nologically accessible for the singers
ly. Rehearsal techniques that have adopted by many educational insti- and works better with large groups,

been effective during in-person re- tutions, giving our singers access to but often introduces too much la-

CHORAL JOURNAL April 2021 Volume 61 Number 9 65