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Conducting During COVID: What is possible and how has the role of the conductor changed?
ho
ductor can easily lead warm-ups computer, for instance.) Other con- the composer’s thought, the
from the piano and can provide ductors are streaming their in-per- written page, and the con-
feedback on the singers’ tone, vowel son rehearsals with a portion of the ductor’s imagination; the
unification, articulation, and blend. choir into Jamulus so the rest of the interaction between con-

If using a concurrent video plat- choir can participate online. Each ductor and choir, among
form, the conductor can provide vi- of these hybrid solutions requires the choir members, be-
sual feedback by watching the sing- audio re-routing software that can tween performers and au-
ers’ posture, breathing, and vowel be complicated to set up at fi rst, but dience: these are essential
shapes. During the warm-up period this becomes easier with the help of to creating music that has
is a good time to ask all singers to online setup guides 13,14 and tech- an impact on those who
check their overall delay and micro- nical support groups such as the hear it. Often a key compo-
phone input levels in their Jamulus Facebook group, “Jamulus Choral nent of this connection is
settings and adjust their connection Community.” Other conductors are the freedom to make a new
settings and microphone levels or making music together in person creative choice in the mo-
the levels of the other singers in the using David Newman’s “car choir” ment, led by some instinct
15
group accordingly. If sight-reading solution, where choir members or unexpected emotion. 16
is a part of the warm-up routine, sing together from the safety of
conductors can upload a PDF to a their parked cars using wireless mi- This dynamic interaction is at
website or file share where singers crophones and radio signal trans- the heart of the conductor/ensem-

can open the document on their missions routed into a mixer. The ble relationship, but when the role
machines. After the singers look conductor can play the choir mem- of a conductor in a virtual choir
over the sight-reading example, the bers’ mixed sound through an am- is to prepare singers to successful-
conductor can lead the chorus by plifier system, wireless headphones, ly record their parts on their own

counting them in or using a metro- or out through the singers’ car ra- and to provide both the resources
nome. dios so the choir members can sing to do this on the front end and the
In a live-remote rehearsal, the along. This and other outdoor solu- critical eye and ear to assemble the
role of the conductor changes from tions have been successful through project on the back end, what does
establishing and maintaining tem- the summer months. conducting look like? The conduc-
po gesturally to managing technol- tor often creates their conducting
ogy, audio levels, and metronomes. video at the beginning of the proj-
However, the rehearsal techniques Conducting Asynchronous ect, and singers use this video to
that the conductor employs to give Virtual Projects record their parts for the project.
appropriate feedback and prob- Many choral conductors have This makes conducting a fi xed and
lem-solve remain largely the same. turned to virtual choirs as the pre- non-reactive experience. While it
As the pandemic has continued, dominant method for creating a may be the impetus for the musi-
some tech-savvy conductors are performance during this pandemic. cal performances, the conducting is
getting even more creative as they In their 2020 position paper on Vir- not responsive or collaborative with
create hybrid solutions that com- tual Choirs, the National Collegiate these performances. That dynamic
bine multiple technologies. Some Choral Organization (NCCO) ref- exchange is key to what conductors
conductors are streaming Jamulus erences one of the primary chal- are trained to do: listen with big
into their Zoom rehearsals, so a lenges of a virtual choir: ears and respond to the ensemble
portion of their ensemble can sing in real-time rather than performing
in Jamulus while the rest sing along Dynamic interaction is the pre-rehearsed choreography. All of
in Zoom (for choir members who heart of artistic communi- this seems impossible in the virtual
cannot get Jamulus to work on their cation. The interaction of context.

CHORAL JOURNAL April 2021 Volume 61 Number 9 69