by Fred Moleck
Good Choir, Good Director
Last Sunday I sang with the Shadyside Choral Society at our annual Christmas service/concert. The chorus is made up a good number of retired folks like me, one or two octogenarians, and a smattering of younger people under forty years of age.On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I will sing with the Choir of St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh.
The cathedral is situated in an area of Pittsburgh where Carnegie-Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, and Carlow University are within two miles from each other.
That geography provides a pool of singers who are young, enthusiastic (for the most part), and quick learners. Many of them have vocal training.
The average age of the choir is maybe forty. That changes, however, at Christmas and during spring break because the collegians go away.
The responsibility of singing for those Masses falls on the middle agers, one octogenarian, and whatever kid shows up.
The major difference between the Choral Society and the Cathedral Choir is that the Society rehearses on Tuesday and sings once in the winter and once in the spring.
The Cathedral Choir rehearses on Thursday and sings every Sunday. From the choir a schola is formed, who sings at Sunday evening prayer during Advent and Lent.
The Choral Society displays a fidelity to the group unparalleled in other human societies, other than, maybe, a religious order.
The members show up for rehearsal in some of the foulest weather I’ve ever experienced in western Pennsylvania.
They share a special kinship with each other. They are chatty. They do listen to each other in a conversation.
No one hugs anybody.
The year-round singers in the Cathedral Choir are equally faithful and are a good example of a subcommunity of a parish, and they are more than chatty. They always have something to talk about with me.
They do their own fund raising by making and selling Christmas wreaths and selling Easter flowers. Two years ago the money was directed to their trip to Ireland.
They are faithful to the rehearsal schedule and most of them show up for the Sunday liturgy.
They have a good time. There is a lot of hugging.
If you have had any experience with either a community chorus or a church choir, you know these characteristics are not unusual.
There is one similarity.
Both groups have a male director who is handsome, charming, patient, sings beautifully, and doesn’t mind repeating the same instructions week after week.
Each also knows which repertory would work for his group. Neither director has mounted Bach’s B-minor Mass.
Neither one ever shuts off any singer who corrals him after the rehearsal, no matter how urgent his interior call is.
Both groups and their directors have caused me to bless God and thank God, especially during this season of marathon music making.
Here are two good choral conductors who minister to me by permitting me to sing in their respective groups. The hidden agenda is that I don’t have to bang out parts, call errant singers, rehearse the brass players, and on and on.
I just show up and sing . . . and be grateful.
You can reach Fred Moleck via email at fmoleck@comcast.net