Amsterdam - first day of conductor's workshop

Today we rehearsed from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Peter (the composer) went through each movement, picking apart each section, explaining what has worked best in the many performances he has led. For the first movement he asked us to learn by rote – a very strange feeling for me, being so used to having a score and reading my way through the music. Like being a car mechanic, but being asked to hand in the normal tools to use a strange new set – I can’t say I liked it, but I did get a sense of what it must be like for people in my choirs when I expect them to look at and read music as I do: something to be mindful of…

I have not sung in a choir in so long – singing for all these hours was tiring to say the least. It is an easy piece to get into and as a result I ‘over sang’ a lot, but I quickly realized I had to monitor what I was doing so I didn’t hurt my voice.

Fascinating to watch Peter come at technical and musical issues from a different perspective – wrong rhythms, wrong notes, etc., were repaired in different, less technical ways than I use – hopefully I can recall these new ideas when I come back to teach this – and any other – piece. His enthusiasm and commitment is certainly contagious.

This is an important work – I don’t understand why more people in the states aren’t doing it…but I feel, more strongly than ever, that we need to make this event as big as possible and find ways to get others involved. Reading over the Millennium Development Goals that 189 country leaders agreed to in 2000 (see www.standagainstpoverty.org), it is painfully obvious that we are not close to accomplishing any of the stated goals. That is the primary purpose of this work – to remind us of those commitments and renew our efforts to make them a reality. That is why it is so important to do it throughout America and the world – otherwise these goals will never be reached.

I love hearing about other countries – comparing our differing and similar political and social issues. All of us struggle with things we find unsatisfactory about the country in which we live. It is interesting to hear how America is perceived in the world - it is amazing how much they know about our upcoming (2008!) presidential election – we are not the only ones anxious to say goodbye to Bush.