What is your favorite pizza place in the world?
Chances are, your favorite pizza is excellent, but also tied to fond memories. For example, at dinner tonight, as we discussed this question, I admitted that I have never had a better pizza than the one I had sitting outdoors on the streets of Prague, with my whole family, in 2014. Was it objectively the best pizza I’ve ever eaten? Probably not – but the good feelings associated with it mark it favorably in my mind.
Here’s the point. Of course it’s important to encourage your choirs to make the best music they can possibly make. But above a certain point of excellence, it’s the positive feelings around the experience – the special people you share it with, the fond memories, the funny little stories – that will cement it in your singers’ memories.
Tend to the whole package, not just the musicianship. That’s how to create the world’s best pizza, and how to create lifelong passion and memories in your singers.