Honor choirs are hard at every level. Hard to organize. Hard to staff. Expensive to run. Extra work for the directors sending students. Extra work for busy students!
Why do it? Why have honors choir?
I actually asked this question of the Wisconsin All-State Jazz Choir during a Q&A session. Here are some of the reasons why I think it’s important to have honor choirs, and why I work to keep the Michigan All-State Jazz afloat.
- They offer rare opportunities. Students learn from world-class educators and musicians. They create music at the highest possible levels.
- They offer new experiences. Including travel and personal connection, but for interested young musicians they especially offer the chance to be around like-minded musicians seeking a common goal.
- They give students (and their teachers) new ideas to bring back and revitalize their home school music programs.
- They can help new ideas to enter the state via guest conductors.
- They can become live demonstrations of the performance standards we can all aspire to.
- They legitimize forms of music. (That’s why I work with the All-State Jazz Choir. I believe it’s one of the best ways to foster an appreciation and educational commitment to this vital art form.)
In light of all this, I am often frustrate that more choirs don’t send their students to audition for the All-State Jazz Choir…even as I feel the pull of organizing fewer things in my home school. That’s why I remind myself of all the ways that honor choirs exert positive change.
I’m looking forward to the seventh annual Michigan All-State Jazz Choir this Saturday, under the direction of the fantastic Dr. Kate Reid. And then I’ll be right back to planning for the eighth annual in 2025.