I relished the opportunity to spend time in rehearsal tonight letting the ensemble pick their new piece for State S&E. They had two options, and we spent about 20 minutes reading through each piece, with the urging to stay as focused as possible so they could debate with as much specificity as possible.
After our mid-rehearsal break, we spent about 15-20 minutes discussing the two pieces, with as much honesty and clarity as we could. We offered positives and negatives about each piece, with three admonitions: Speak Up • Listen • Be Brief.
By the time we’d finished we had almost unanimous consensus – to learn one piece for S&E and the other for Spring Concert performances.
You can’t do this for every repertoire choice – there simply isn’t time. But I love the ownership this kind of process gives the ensemble. I love to hear the real and valid insights that high school students can offer. And I love to have my students get a small taste of the many factors that you must consider in selecting repertoire.