Connecting and Reflecting: Choir as a Vehicle for Healing during a Global Crisis

Presented by Laurie Lewis-Fritz

Time: monday june 28, 15:30-16:30 eastern daylight time

In March 2020, choral educators everywhere were suddenly tasked with moving their ensembles online. Many believed this would be a short-term thing. The idea of lockdown and quarantine lasting more than a few weeks was nearly impossible to comprehend.

Spoiler alert…we are still working through this one year later.

I will discuss how looking for opportunities that might not have otherwise presented themselves outside of the pandemic led to a year of connecting and reflecting, and how this helped Choir become a source of healing for my students and for me. In this session, you will get some ideas for your own ensembles that can be implemented regardless of your meeting modality. These ideas include considerations for interdisciplinary collaboration, intentional repertoire selection that honors student experiences and world events, facilitating relationship-building within the ensemble, and creating a culture of openness, support, and confidence. Looking for ways to connect—student to student, student to instructor, student to repertoire, and student to the world—leads to flipping the switch from surviving to thriving. You will acquire specific techniques to build these connections that will enhance your approach to your ensemble during and after this global crisis.

In this session you will learn how to:

Collaborate on an interdisciplinary project, with an awareness of important requirements and potential pitfalls. Select meaningful repertoire as a basis for expression, improvement of musical skills, and open discussion. Facilitate relationship-building in the ensemble Create a culture of openness, support, and confidence.