II just enjoyed the privilege of a very rich conversation with Dominick DiOrio, the new president of the National Collegiate Choral Organization and Associate Professor of Music at the Jacobs School in Bloomington, moderated by Alain Barker for his series of webinars on future directions in the musical field, which he leads from his Office of Entrepreneurship and Career Development, also at the Jacobs School.  The topic was “crossdisciplnay modes in choral music”, a point of entry to discuss the avenues and challenges facing us as conductors and singers in the Covid19  pandemic era.

The comments in the chat were as enlightening as the conversation itself, and I wanted to share the Facebook archive here. Thank you Alain and Dominick for an unforgettable discussion!

video: https://www.facebook.com/jsomoecd/videos/178289703522757/

And below is the chat text from the Zoom call:

11:52:10               From  Yuriria Rodriguez : hi Everyone! It’s good to see you all.

11:52:48               From  CARMEN-HELENA TELLEZ : Hello Yuri!!

11:56:53               From  JSoM Entrepreneurship & Career : Welcome to this afternoon’s conversation!  We’re thrilled to have you here.

12:30:03               From  JSoM Entrepreneurship & Career  to  CARMEN-HELENA TELLEZ(Privately) : Careful of the mic 🙂

12:31:52               From  CARMEN-HELENA TELLEZ : PAUL MORAVEC’S THE LIGHT SHALL LIFT US – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8A8fIGbYyY

12:32:26               From  CARMEN-HELENA TELLEZ : AN ARTICLE ABOUT “THE LIGHT SHALL LIFT US”. https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwopera/article/Exclusive-Preview-107-Opera-Singers-a-Conductor-plus-Tech-Magic-Bring-Some-LIGHT-from-Moravec-Campbell-and-OPERA-America-20200513

12:37:54               From  Lynne Morrow : I just had to explain this difference to my dean!

12:38:15               From  CARMEN-HELENA TELLEZ : INDEED, LYNNE!!

12:43:32               From  Lynne Morrow : Are there thoughts about strategies for music theatre/opera?

12:43:34               From  Brandon Hollihan : That game is an opera unto itself!!!!

12:43:43               From  CARMEN-HELENA TELLEZ : Must try it!

12:44:39               From  Dominick DiOrio : Yes, to Brandon!

12:44:53               From  Dominick DiOrio : (That and the Final Fantasy games!)

12:44:54               From  Camilla Tassi : Lynne, UMD did a fantastic (completely live) performance of She Kills Monsters https://www.americantheatre.org/2020/05/07/she-kills-virtual-monsters/

12:45:13               From  Camilla Tassi : It incorporated design, stage managing, and all live acting – no pre-recorded etc.

12:45:37               From  CARMEN-HELENA TELLEZ : Thanks for those links!!

12:46:13               From  Lynne Morrow : thanks Camilla!

12:46:23               From  Lynne Morrow : can we save the chat?

12:49:41               From  Joshua Boggs : Amazing! Need!

12:51:12               From  Chia Patino : hello… nice to hear you all

12:51:29               From  Grant Farmer : Or in ear monitors

12:51:37               From  Dominick DiOrio : Yes!

12:52:42               From  Joshua Boggs : This is a great time for sculpting soundscapes…

12:52:46               From  Brandon Hollihan : Agreed Grant, that works even better.  Would AirPods work?

12:52:48               From  Lynne Morrow : Are you using masks in these rehearsals?

12:52:55               From  Brad Poore : Thank you to everyone for the points you offered. Nice to listen to your ideas again, Carmen! On to another meeting now. Brad

12:52:56               From  Brandon Hollihan : I would Lynne

12:54:07               From  CARMEN-HELENA TELLEZ : To Josh-  Sounds capes are indeed great.

12:55:40               From  Lynne Morrow : I think a LOT of work will reflect on this experience. alienation and Intimacy. remote connection

12:56:01               From  CARMEN-HELENA TELLEZ : The need for intimacy must be acknoweldged

12:58:11               From  Lynne Morrow : yes these are very different skills.

12:58:13               From  Ileana Perez Velazquez : Virtual music right now is limited to a kind of music that cannot be very rhythmically demanding, due to latency.

12:58:35               From  Camilla Tassi : The Hopkins Center for the Arts did a project of Pulcinella, using fiber cables etc. that minimized latency and allowed dancers and musicians to be in separate rooms.

While this was years prior to the current situation, a lot of latency can be reduced via physical cabling/wired connection – since internet/wifi signal is built with latency in its roots.

12:58:56               From  Lynne Morrow : virtual choir also requires engineers. if one is not a tech person, you’ll need help to create 3 minutes of performance

12:59:57               From  Ileana Perez Velazquez : Fiber cables, etc.. solve the issue for those that have access to them, and for a limited audience.

13:00:07               From  Camilla Tassi : Very true!

13:01:40               From  CARMEN-HELENA TELLEZ : Thanks for these comments! How about talking about it in the group?

13:03:14               From  Lynne Morrow : exactly. 75 hours of tech

13:04:19               From  Lynne Morrow : I just had a zoom open mic with symphony chorus last meeting

13:04:20               From  Brandon Hollihan : I’m looking at doing virtual choirs with my church group starting in this fall, and my goal is to use music that is mostly non-rubato (like Yannarella’s Sing Unto the Lord, Bach Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, etc.) because I know the singers must sing to a click track.  I hope to use the Acappella app because my own technological skills are limited, but this way I can hopefully keep a connection with the church choir and still provide musical outreach to the church community.

13:05:30               From  Tim Shantz : I think that music has changed over many years to being more about “the voice” of the performer than “excellence”. It is more about who is performing and what they are “saying” than excellence. It is also important to celebrate this diversity.

13:05:48               From  Dominick DiOrio : Yes yes yes, to Tim’s point.

13:05:59               From  Dominick DiOrio : “What are we saying and why are we saying it?”

13:06:06               From  Dominick DiOrio : “What do we hope to communicate?”

13:06:13               From  Dominick DiOrio : The goal of expressing, rather than impressing.

13:06:39               From  Camilla Tassi : Thanks Carmen! Apologies as I am traveling in a noisy area. I agree, but when I also think about theater and sound artists, also out of work, perhaps this is a period to connect as a greater group of artists? – though I agree that it takes a level of patience and generosity in terms of time and funds.

13:07:18               From  AYA UEDA : I’m planning on doing a lot of rehearsals online, but incorporating technology like Acappella app to create sectionals and quartets, so that they can develop connection, skills to sing with other parts, etc. I think the technology can help to develop skills in new ways that I had not thought of before. I also hope to be able to get together in a safe way to perform in person and have that video recorded. Thinking about programming and creative way to use the space necessary to be safe.

13:08:00               From  Brandon Hollihan : Agreed; I think someone right now is developing the tech to hold mass rehearsals online without a delay.  The scary thing is that that can take away the human connection.

13:08:02               From  CARMEN-HELENA TELLEZ : An experiment with receivers and microphones in an open space.  https://youtu.be/HtI5auroYqM

13:09:03               From  Lynne Morrow : agreed Camilla. broad collaborations

13:09:35               From  Lynne Morrow : that was an amazing installation

13:09:40               From  Dominick DiOrio : Yes!

13:10:24               From  Lynne Morrow : Yes!

13:10:35               From  Camilla Tassi : Hear hear!

13:11:18               From  Lynne Morrow : Thanks Alain!

13:11:18               From  Tim Shantz : Thank you all! It would be great to connect again. Very stimulating conversations and very much appreciated the invitation

13:11:29               From  AYA UEDA : We as conductors need to create virtual environment for our singers to be emotionally connected. It is difficult to get singers to sing fully in their room with other family members around. Maybe a new era for preference in softer singing.

13:11:35               From  Chia Patino  to  JSoM Entrepreneurship & Career(Privately) : Nice to see you Alain….

13:11:40               From  Tim Shantz : Bravo Carmen & Dominick!

13:11:58               From  Tim Shantz : & Alain

13:12:05               From  AYA UEDA : Thank you for a wonderful conversation!

13:12:32               From  Karen Thomas : Excellent discussion – thank you everyone!

13:12:42               From  Dominick DiOrio : Thank you everyone!

13:12:44               From  Brandon Hollihan : This was wonderful!  Thank you for organizing it.

13:12:46               From  Camilla Tassi : Thank you!