Picking Music for a Concert

At the end of every school year, I hold a concert for my voice students so they can show off their singing abilities, as well as work on confronting stage fright.  It's a great way to end the year and very rewarding for everyone involved.

Picking music for a concert is a balancing act; you want to make sure the songs vary in terms of subject matter, tempos, styles, vocal range etc....there are lots of factors that come into play, but the end result is the same.  A concert with variety is FAR more entertaining than one with songs of all the same type.  A music professor once put it to me this way; the emotionally wrenching, slow dramatic songs are only effective if they are bordered by happy, optimistic material.  If everything you sing in a show is sad, those big dramatic moments lose their meaning.

With that being said, sometimes fate makes your song choices far more relevant than you even meant.  A month ago, one of my sopranos, Aaliyah, asked me to find a song that was inspirational.  I chose "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Rodgers and Hammerstein, which is from the musical Carousel.  It's a famous song that has been used for funerals, church services, presidential inaugurations, you name it...because it is so simply and yet beautifully written. 

The concert with Aaliyah singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" was just four days after the school shooting in Santa Fe.

When I picked the song, I told Aaliyah that she had a heavy weight put on her shoulders, as the song can have a dramatic effect on audiences when done well.  In the song, a friend sings to the main female lead that even though her husband has died from a shooting, her community and friends will stand by her and her unborn daughter and make sure she gets through this difficult time.  I had no idea the song would be so relevant.  I can tell you there were a lot of quiet, thoughtful faces in the audience after her performance.  It meant a lot to all who heard it, and I recommend you google the song.  It's that beautiful.

Even though I live thirty minutes from the tragedy, I have students who had friends who were shot or even killed in the school shooting.  I actually taught at the high school a few years ago...and while I know those students have graduated, they may have younger siblings that were impacted.  This last week of school has been really tough...I've never felt so upset and angry about a national event, other than perhaps September 11th when I was in high school.  It's been wrenching and while I have my personal opinions on how we should go forward as a country to reduce gun violence, I know right now people just need to be comforted and know that they too will never walk alone.  God Bless Santa Fe.

DWS