The Venn diagram of repertoire selection
When it comes to repertoire selection, imagine a four circle Venn diagram.
- Circle one is the music you want to conduct.
- Circle two is the music your forces would like to play or sing.
- Circle three, is music that you are capable of doing technically, and financially.
- And circle four, is the music your audience will like, and pay to hear.
The weighting of these variables depends on a given situation. An ensemble whose finances are based on ticket sales needs to give more consideration to audience appeal than a school group whose performances are free to the public. Conductors in academic settings might consider recycling repertoire more frequently since they are always working with new singers. Despite myriad factors influencing how to weight the considerations these are the only considerations that matter. Sadly, they can be overrun by interlopers whose out-sized influence leads to problematic programming. Here are some examples:
- Wish fulfillment: This is the most common trap. We conductors fantasize about repertoire. I will never get to conduct Mahler 2 or the Verdi Requiem. Oh well.
- Impressing your peers: I’ve fallen into this trap when picking programs for festivals. Rather than think of what will be best for the singers, I’d think, what would most satisfy their teachers. We can justify this approach by suggesting that picking the right program will best insure we get asked back, but that’s stupid. Why would you want to get asked back to conduct for a group who don’t put the singers’ needs as the highest priority.
- Non-musical considerations: Circle three addressed financial capacity which I consider a musical consideration. If the repertoire requires instrumentalists, professional soloists, microphones or lighting to be artistically satisfying, those are musical considerations. If your Board of Directors wants you to program music that you’d never consider strictly to satisfy a donor, don’t do it. You are in charge of your singers’ voices and artistic satisfaction. Even if someone is ready to foot the bill for a performance, you need to say no if it will be dangerous for your singers’ voices or undermine their experience with the ensemble.
- Because it’ll be good for them: I have programmed several seasons where the singers hated me in the beginning. I did this knowing that those rough starts would be temporary. I’ve also picked programs that I thought would serve a larger pedagogical purpose only to be rewarded by pissed off singers. If you’re going to embark on a tough program, you’ll need to make it clear that the payoff will be worth it. If you decide to do that, make sure that the payoff will indeed be worth it. Ultimately there is enough repertoire that you should be able to fully satisfy the needs of circles 1 and 2 while still achieving secondary pedagogical objectives. If your singers start asking, “why the hell are we singing this,” and all you can say is “because it’s good for you,” pack up your cookies and go find another job.