 HOW DO RAGAZZI DIRECTORS CHOOSE MUSIC?
As educators, directors want to introduce our boys to the great works, much as an English literature teacher explores the great writers from our history. So, we try to give them a little Mozart, a little Bach, and a little Schubert over the course of their years with us. We also explore music of other cultures, often in the original languages, e.g. music from Africa, South America, the Middle East, Central Europe, Asia.
Added to this is the challenge of meeting educational goals at various age levels and to develop a healthy singing voice. Are we programming music that develops beautiful tone, vowel purity, breath control? What about the technical musical skills like rhythm, harmony? Are we learning pieces in lots of keys so as to take advantage of the boys' theory education? Are we providing appropriate challenges for their age levels? Is the music too easy? Too hard?
We also look at the variety of human emotions being expressed in the music. Are we singing music with great texts? Are we learning about ourselves as we explore different poets and songs?
And last but not least, we think about the concert program. Is there a range of tempos and moods so that our audiences will be engaged by the variety and enjoy hearing our concert?
As you can imagine, it is a juggling act to bring all these factors into play, but it is also a lot of fun as we explore music we love and get ready to introduce it - first to our boys and then to our audiences. |
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Joyce Keil
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