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The Choir as Garden: A Dynamic, Singer-Centered Approach to Choral Leadership

Value 2: Each Voice Brings Qualities to Recognize, Nurture, ways economical in the context of a tightly planned
and Value rehearsal. To make room for singers’ speaking voices,
In the Garden Model, each voice brings qualities to choral leaders can use three concrete communication
recognize, nurture, and value. This concept applies to strategies.
a) singing voices, including singers’ tone quality and First, when singers ask questions in rehearsal, lead-
style, and to b) speaking voices, including singers’ intel- ers can attune to their motivation. For instance, when
lectual and interpretive contributions. asked, “Do you want measure 43 piano, as marked?”
a leader might cast the question not as a factual que-
A.) Singing voices ry about the conductor’s wishes but as the singer’s
Because the singing voice is deeply tied to individ- constructive musical contribution. Perhaps the singer,
uals’ identities, choral leaders’ responses to ensemble bothered that the ensemble did not sing the piano they
members’ singing can be especially impactful. Ex- hoped for, offered the most polite expression of their
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plicit or implied messages about timbre, style, or vocal viewpoint they could envision in the rehearsal con-
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technique can support or diminish singers’ identities. text. When educators respond to singers’ questions as
When singers perceive that in the choral environment, essential, thoughtful musical commentary, regardless
the ways they sing outside of choir are devalued, they of the questions’ alignment with their predetermined
might hold back their voices, thereby diminishing their rehearsal priorities, they recognize, nurture, and value
strength and individuality. the voices in the room.
Through the Garden Model, leaders aim to recog- Second, leaders might respond to singers’ verbal
nize voices for their uniqueness, appreciating singers’ contributions with another question. For instance,
most typical, preferred, or default tone qualities. If, for “What is your interpretation of that piano marking?” or
instance, some singers perform a passage with a more “Can you describe what you are hearing?” After cho-
“chesty” or “belted” tone than the musical style typi- ral leaders recognize that singers want to actively shape
cally calls for, the whole choir might experiment with the music, they can open up space for them to do so.
matching that tone quality, then create the opposite The ensuing dialogue frequently generates expressive
quality, a lighter, thinner sound. Next, singers might choices that the ensemble embraces.
experiment with a middle ground, incorporating both Third, leaders can recognize that their words com-
qualities without judgment of one or the other. Such municate, intentionally or not, who has the right and
exercises communicate that all singers are capable of responsibility to make decisions. For instance, regularly
singing in a variety of tone qualities and that all choic- using words including “need” or “should” might com-
es of sounds can be viewed positively (provided they municate that only the leader knows the one “right”
are vocally healthy). Finally, singers can weigh in on way to create music. Rather than framing musical
the tone quality “recipe” they might use for particular feedback as imperatives such as “We need to…,” “We
passages and pieces. An ecumenical approach to tone should always…,” or “Yes, but it’s got to be…” lead-
quality embraces varied types of singing, honors sing- ers might frame feedback as questions: “What happens
ers’ cultural and musical identities, and recognizes, val- if we listen for…?” “What might help us…?” or “I
ues, and nurtures each voice in the room. wonder what might change if we tried….” Questions
that redirect singers’ attention encourage sensitivity to
B.) Speaking voices the group’s sound. When leaders avoid directive com-
The Garden Model approach makes space for each mands and instead encourage awareness, they nurture
singer’s speaking voice by validating singers’ verbal singers’ contributions to the ensemble.
contributions. For many choral leaders, leaving time
and space for verbal contributions can be a challenge, Value 3: The Ensemble is More than the Sum of its Parts
as their musical training often prioritizes rehearsal ef- The Garden Model’s first two values focus on the
ficiency, and singers’ verbal contributions are not al- growth of individuals. The third value articulates that

28 CHORAL JOURNAL August 2025 Volume 66 Number 1