ICDA Conference

Last week was annual summer conference for the ICDA (Indiana Choral Director's Association).

The conference was extremely refreshing. We spent time in sessions with the two headliners, Beth and Brad Holmes from Milikin University. They talked a lot about digging deep into the music that we teach our students, about getting below the surface. The idea is that students are more likely to sing musically if they understand the piece and have a connection to it. Technical stuff, within reason, will iron itself out. You won't need to tell them to take a bigger breath because they will naturally want to do it if they understand the meaning behind the text.

For example, let's look at a piece we talked about in one of the sessions, "Nine Hundred Miles," (found here on Santa Barbara's website) arranged by Philip E. Silvey.



I am walkin' on this track,
I've got tears in my eyes,
I'm tryin' to read a letter from my home.
And if that train runs me right,
I'll be home Saturday night,
'Cause I'm nine hundred miles from my home.
And I hate to hear that lonesome whistle blow,
that long lonesome train whistlin' down.


Well this train that I ride
is a hundred coaches long.
You can hear her whistle blow a million miles.

So, in looking at the text, we can pull questions from it. Why is he walking on the track? Why is he crying? Has he read the letter before? What does he mean by "run me right"--will the train go in the right direction--will he be taking the right one? Have you ever felt like you're not sure if you're taking the right direction?

And etc.

It, of course, was much more poignant in person. I could have sat and listened to them for hours. It was so enlightening for me to go beyond the words and notes on the page--imagine how much better my choir would be if I led them on that path to discovering what lies beneath the music.

Okay, so I don't have my own choir yet, but when I get one, I will try my hardest to incorporate what I learned into my instruction. For me, I am not an abstract thinker, so it is going to be a stretch trying to understand the music myself. I know it will be worth it, though, and my students will have a great experience.

The conference also included multiple other sessions and various topics, such as technology, show choir, jazz choir, and commissioning. A benefit of these conferences is the reading sessions. They pass out packets of octavos, and the attendees gather into a room and just sight read. It is so much fun!

I will leave you with a piece discussed in one of Beth Holmes's sessions. I couldn't sing this without crying. Mary Speaks, arranged by Dan Gawthrop.



O you who bear the pain of the whole earth,
I bore you.
O you whose tears give human tears their worth,
I laughed with you.
You, who, when your hem is touched, give power,
I nourished you.
Who turn the day to night in this dark hour,
light comes from you.
O you who hold the world in your embrace,
I carried you.
Whose arms encircled the world with your grace,
My arms held you.
O you who laughed and ate and walked the shore,
I played with you.
And I, who with all others you died for,
now I hold you.
May I be faithful to this final test,
in this last time I hold my child, my son,
His body close enfolded to my breast,
the holder held: the bearer borne.
Mourning to joy: darkness to mourn.
Open, my arms: your work is done.