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Christopher Eanes, Editor eanesc@gmail.com

Choral Rehearsals During COVID: Examining Singer Engagement

by Matthew Swanson, Eva Floyd, and David Kirkendall

For several months now, many achievements, give themselves and ilar activities, and their leaders can

conductors have been leading re- their singers confidence, and advo- easily see how to map those activities
hearsals partly or entirely online. As cate for their programs by pointing on to the Taylor and Parsons frame-
teachers, it is easy to feel that such to this demonstration of resiliency work.
rehearsals are ineffective. And, musi- and ingenuity. The May Festival Youth Chorus

cal growth and progress aside, we all In a 2011 review of student en- offers tuition-free, high-level choral
hope that singers will, somehow or gagement research literature, Leah experiences to singers in grades 8-12
other, remain engaged—engaged with Taylor and Jim Parsons summarize who are drawn from more than thir-
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choral music broadly and engaged fi ve requirements for successful stu- ty schools in greater Cincinnati; the
with our organizations specifi cally. dent engagement. The fi ve require- ensemble comprises singers of all
Ensemble leaders should take ments, originally generated by Carie voice types, and they would normally
heart, though. While unorthodox, Windham, are interaction, explora- rehearse once each week from Sep-
these online choral experiences may tion, relevance, media, and technol- tember through May. The singers
be eff ective in ways not immediately ogy, and instruction. Though Tay- focus on developing vocal technique,
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obvious. Thanks to the work of sev- lor and Parsons refer to “students” musicianship, language facility, and
eral researchers, we already know and “teachers” in their writings, performance skills in preparation for
that a framework exists for under- those terms are easily interchange- frequent appearances with the May
standing quality student engage- able with “singers” and “conduc- Festival Chorus and the Cincinnati
ment, and when applied to choirs tors” for our purposes. Symphony and Pops Orchestras, in
and their COVID activities, it is To illustrate how these fi ve re- addition to their annual featured ap-
clear that successful singer engage- quirements were met in practice, pearances at the May Festival.
ment can—and does—occur in the we describe below the online activ- During the pandemic, the Youth
online choir environment. Conduc- ities of the Cincinnati May Festival Chorus met every other week via
tors and administrators can use this Youth Chorus during the fall of Zoom for seventy-fi ve-minute ses-
framework to reconsider the results 2020. However, many other ensem- sions (half the usual rehearsal time).
of their activities, appreciate their bles have incorporated these or sim- The sessions included a guided vocal

CHORAL JOURNAL April 2021 Volume 61 Number 9 75