Small vs Large Chorus Competitions
Posted by Kevin Keller | Posted in Chorus, Contests & Judging | Posted on July 29, 2012, 1:58 PM
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Another from John Wabel
I have repeatedly asked that the society define and split the international/district competitions into a small chorus competition and a large chorus competition. I am in a small chorus and we don’t even want to go to the district competition any more. There is no way we can compete with the large choruses. They tell me we can’t change the district competition rules until the International changes first.
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John,
Your premise is flawed. If you’re not scoring or placing where you want to at the District contest, then do what’s necessary to sing better. The fourth place Int’l medalist chorus this year had less than 40 guys on stage. The 22nd place chorus only had 27 guys on stage and scored right around 80.
It’s not about size, and the ultimate examples of that are our top quartets. There are only four guys in a quartet, yet they sound awesome.
It sounds to me like you and your chapter chorus have the desire to sing better and subsequently do better in contest. Great! If that’s your goal, then there are things you can do to achieve that, but it requires the commitment of every singer on the risers to do those things.
Allan
When you are in a chorus of less than 20 men you don’t normally have as many good singers as does a larger chorus. You can’t cover up mistakes when the number of voices in a part are 5 or less. We only have 1 Tenor and 2 Bari’s. I one is missing, having voice issues, or having a bad day you can’t ring a chord. Our risk is much higher due to the lack of voices in a part. We are basically a large quartet. Remove a part and …. 70% of my chorus is over age 70 and you know what age can do to a voice. So you can’t just dial up the quality that easy.
Hi John
To answer your questions, to have a small and large chorus contest at the International level could be done (anything can be done). SAI does this with Harmony Classics and it appears from the outside to be successful. C&J does not control this – as you indicate it is a SBOD and/or BHS decision. We’ll support those aims. The week is jammed packed as it is. And most of the small choruses who are highly competitive want to compete against the big boys, so they’ll decline the invitation if they have to choose.
Having said that, many districts, including ILL, have plateaus. You compete against choruses who are at the same quality level as you. Districts have complete autonomy to do what they choose.
Kevin Keller
C&J Chair
John,
Then I guess I’m confused. Your reply would indicate that you have no expectation of being able to post high scores with the voices you have, and that you would probably be happy singing in the 60s with what you’ve got.
If that’s the case, you’re not going to be in competition for the win at a District contest regardless of the size of the other choruses, because it’s not about size, it’s about quality.
If you and your chorus truly want to grow, you will need to sing well enough to attract more singers. By “singers”, I mean people who can actually sing, not just warm bodies; people with an ear for harmony; people who know what singing in tune means; people who understand the concept of locking chords and who either already know how to do it or who can be trained to in short order.
Here’s the hurdle: those people won’t be interested in singing with your chorus if your chorus currently sings below, say, a 60 level. Somewhere in the mid-60s, you cross the threshold where you can attract and keep those people, and as you grow it becomes far easier to consistently sing in the 60s (or better, if you really are looking to get into the 70s and beyond), but it can be done even with only 25-30 guys.
Getting into the 60s can be done by any group with at least 3 on a part. If they have one really good tenor (who always shows up), it could be done even with only one tenor.
You can very likely get to the “attractive” level with the guys you have, but you might have to shuffle some voice parts around to get yourself at least 2 tenors and another bari or two. You’ve probably got some extra basses and leads; find some who are willing and able to switch parts to tenor or bari.
Many basses make great tenors because their break is low and they can sing a good falsetto/mix on the tenor part.
Leads with the right brain damage make good baritones, because the vocal range necessary is nearly identical.
John,
My district, CSD, has a small chorus competition in the spring. It’s a chance for a smaller, or start-up chorus, to compete. It’s not the competition to go to International, but a chance for a chorus like Central Standard, an outstanding chorus by the way, to brush up on things and for other small choruses to shine. (Central Standard DID qualify for International in the fall, and was deservedly in the top 10 @ International!) It CAN be done without big numbers!
I’m a relative novice going to International with the Pathfinders from Fremont, NE. But after having gone for three years, I do NOT want to ever miss it! Our society, at its’ best, is absolutely awesome. Just listen to the Ambassadors do their ballad….it literally made me melt. I’m so proud of our style when it’s done with such excellence. It gives me chills!
Our opportunities are huge right now, with all of the shows like “Sing-Off” on network TV. Not many will qualify to be on the tube like that, but many very good singers, young and old (like me!) can come and sing in a chorus or a quartet and compete. We’ve got a great opportunity! And good singers attract good singers…
Good luck John. Your chorus can grow with a bit of fertilizer…..
Hello, John……
Our contest allows for any ensemble of any size to flourish. This has been proven by the Toronto Northern Lights, the Louisville Times, the Kentucky Vocal Union, the Westminster chorus from FWD, the Alliance chorus from JAD, the Voices of Gotham from M-AD, the Central Standard chorus from CSD and more.
The assumption that small choruses cannot compete with large ones is flawed and simply not true.
The real question is whether or not someone will work hard enough to realize their aspirations.
Best of luck,
Kirk Young
IF you are in a group of less than 20 members, then IMO the REAL problem could be more one of recruiting new people, training them, and retaining them.
Background: I’ve help start over 20 organizations in my life of all kinds, including starting a number of new barbershop chapters, and revitalizing some old ones. They all have a LOT more in common, than you think.
You must bear in mind that ALL organizations, regardless of “technology”, go through what I call Chapter Cycles of boom and bust. I’ve talked about this on Harmonet before (see the archives for the full definition).
BHS chapters just have a fairly long “oscillation period” (many years or even decades) when compared to other groups like school student orgs and fraternities (which normally oscillate with a very short period of four-eight years).
Anyway… Whenever a group is new, you are all at the same “experience” level, and easily grow together as one. But there will always come SOME point in every Chapter Cycle where the learning curve becomes TOO large for a NEW member to “get up to speed” without “dragging down the experienced ones”. They’ll feel like an “outsider”, can’t overcome it, and they’ll simply “visit and leave”. At this point, you stop growing.
However, you still have the same relatively constant shrinkage and turnover rate reducing your group (from circumstance change, death, job change, moving, etc.).
This is a very critical point in any organization’s lifespan.
You say that you have a small group, with a lot of older members. To me, that just looks like the “shrinking” side of a standard Chapter Cycle, where you find yourselves having a hard time recruiting, and/or maintaining a decent group size.
The solution to this is twofold:
1) Establish a Recruiting Plan to bring in new blood, and 2) Establish some kind of a formal Farm Club or Training System, to welcome and bring them UP to your group’s experience level.
This brings in new candidates, yet allows those new members to “get up to speed” in a group’s technology (in our case, barbershop singing craft, repertoire, how to follow a Director, and Culture Indoctrination) without feeling like an outsider, nor dragging down the ESTABLISHED members while they are learning.
With “Barbershop Technology”, I’ve seen it accomplished
in numerous ways, including:
A change in repertoire, to get everyone back to “square one” (other than with Craft), Craft sessions – often before the regular meeting time for newcomers, “give them a job in the chapter” (make them Coffee Guy, Uniform Guy, or whatever) so they feel VALUED and WANTED in your chapter (and thus obligated to show up
, etc. Lots of ways to do this.
So… IMO you should first establish HOW you will bring the new guys up to speed (Plan for Barbershop Craft Sessions, stick them in Training Quartets with established members to learn, run Quartet or Teg fun “Contests” with badges or other simple prizes, where each pickup quartet MUST have at least one Guest in it, whatever).
NOW, once you have figured out what you’ll DO with them so they won’t “visit and leave”, THEN build and execute a Recruiting Plan to pull in the new blood.
Some suggestions:
Singouts at local malls, events & schools with an overt invitation to join in, open houses, newspaper announcements, Run “Free Singing Lessons” ads in the newspaper, donate some sets of Barberpole Cat books (or other BBS arrangement books) to your local public and HS libraries with your group and meeting contact data in the cover, add a Reference Desk Card at your local library Org Index at the Reference Desk with your meeting and contact data, add yourselves to the local paper’s Happenings Calendar, sing for a local theater production of Music Man, etc. Just get the data (and yourselves) out there!
BTW… I don’t know what your chapter is focused on, but many groups forget that you also need to have some FUN stuff happening at your chapter that NEW members will enjoy, in order to attract and retain new blood. I’ve seen WAAAAY too many chapters that just “beat on a couple of songs on risers all night long, and never progress”, nor do anything else that is FUN. I can tell you right now, that’s not going to sell a chapter to a new person… You need some other activities of interest to THEM on a nightly basis. (Jus sayin’…
So, before you go running out recruiting, also think about and answer these questions: “If *I* I were a brand new guy visiting here, would I (a) feel welcome, and (b) see things happening that *I* would also like to do and join in on?”
IMO, THIS is the way to build up a small group.
At that point, you will HAVE some new “raw material” to both start forming quartets, and build up a competitive chorus (if that’s your goal).
I hope this sparks a few ideas…
- Keith Mc.
“Def: Paradox – A very small medical group…”