"From an "Old" Parent

 

 

Dear Ragazzi,

 

I have been listening to the latest Ragazzi CD.  Always such a treat.  I love the Laetatus Sum, the Biebl, Sound the Trumpet  etc.  etc.  I continue to be amazed by the range and quality of the music and of the singing. I wonder though if it’s clear to the younger boys  and their parents just how far into the future the impact of Ragazzi continues. Certainly long after Concert Choir, even YME.  We recently returned to Boston to hear our son sing. He’s a  senior  and a Choral Scholar at Harvard. There are not many Scholars,  interestingly 2 are from Ragazzi.  Anyway in addition to hearing him sing in the University Choir, we heard him sing Albert Herring in Benjamin Britten’s opera of the same name. It’s a difficult piece and yet he was coping well with it and immensely enjoying the singing. And I think back to conversations with other parents over the years, eg Peter Sherman’s parents (Peter is a soloist on Ragazzi’s 1^st and 2^nd CD’s) and Conrad Frank (another Ragazzi soloist) and it strikes me that this focus on instilling a love of singing and of the discipline needed to excel at it pays such huge dividends for these boys later on in life wherever they end up. (Peter, I think is a Marine officer in the Far East last I heard, Conrad is a professional counter-tenor).  So as current parents drive through the rain with fidgety young boys in the back seats and wonder is all this effort by them and their boys worthwhile in the longer term, I believe the answer is “Yes, Yes, Yes…”

 

Jonathan MacQuitty

 

 

Joyce Keil, Artistic Director

Ragazzi Boys Chorus

 

Practice, Success and Teamwork Part 1 of 4

Practice, Success and Teamwork Part 1 of 4
Ragazzi Boys Chorus, Joyce Keil, Artistic Director

In the January 28 2002 issue of the New Yorker I discovered an interesting fact about learning and achievement. High achievers are not necessarily more talented; they practice more! In “The Learning Curve” by Atul Gawanda there was a discussion of the learning curve even as it applies to surgeons. The surgeon must practice just like everyone else (but the frightening truth is that he practices on people where the risk is human life)! As Gawande honestly and disturbingly describes his early attempts at surgery, he discusses the value of practice. He quotes K. Anders Ericsson, a cognitive psychologist, who is one of the many who have studied the difference between elite and mediocre performers in all professions. The difference for the high performers is the amount of deliberate practice the performer has accumulated. He also found that top performers dislike practice as much as others, but they have the will to keep at it.

I was heartened by this news. On those days in 2002 as I faced endless rainy days knowing that I had to put in hours drilling Russian for our Russian concert, I remembered that it was OK that I wasn’t delighted with this task. As adults we know why we practice. We can anticipate the triumph of our labor and taste its fruits in anticipation. Children do not know about the pay-off of hard work and even if they do know, they often forget in the heat of the moment when distracted by more immediate temptations.

I encourage all of us to remember that it is the will to achieve which drives us and to remember to look for the joy that achievement yields. Ragazzi Premiere, Full Concert Chorus and Young Men’s Ensemble felt this exhilaration in 2002 and they feel it after every concert now where they have struggled and succeeded. All of our young singers will feel this again this year as they present concerts of music which has challenged them.

How do we achieve that thrill? We practice! And sometimes (often) practice is fun!! See the recent post on How to Practice for ideas. Watch this blog for more on learning and achievement.

An unexpected mix.

Punk Rocker sings Nessun Dorma.  Check out the full clip from Britain's Got Talent.

Singing is cool

Once the preserve of middle-aged women with fawn footwear and frowsy hair, choirs are suddenly "in". Across London, bright young things are as likely to be found Facebooking each other about singing practice as parties, while choirs such as Gaggle, the Funk Chorus and Harmony on Heels gain followers.
Read more about this trend in the TimesOnline.

Not only that, Haiti earthquake victims sang to keep their spirits up as they camped out in emergency tent villages. Singing is good for you, builds community and helps you get through hard times.