Is it really wise to have high school show choirs or even general/mixed high school choirs to go out and compete? Sometimes I do not think so, because it builds the stress, involvement, core, basis and general musicianship around the competition. I feel that sometimes these competitions don't focus on the learning, respect and pure enjoyment of the music. Could it just be that there is a time and place for these types of competitions. I just fear that some students think of the winning perspective of it, instead of the musical perspective of it. What do you all think?
posted by Cait @ 4:51 PM
3 Comments:
Honestly, I see no issues with having your choirs compete. Is it not good for a school when a sports team does well in competition? Why not in choir? I believe that all the things you mentioned, involvement, musicianship etc. are things that could be IMPROVED through competing. If the choir competes and the students become more involved, is there really any problem there? Students join sports teams to be in a competitive environment, its a natural thing. If choir is something that can offer that competitive environment as well, why not take advantage of that to boost our programs? I think that students, through competing will become more a part of the music, something that I feel is necessary to have a good ensemble to begin with. Even if its only a select ensemble that competes, it will get those students more involved.
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From my personal experience I didn't usually find that the competitions were stressful necessarily, but that we were going on trips simply to go on trips, to Disney, Williamsburg, Boston, etc. The majority of students in choir with me only wanted to go because they want a vacation and to miss school for a few days since we were usually gone Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday.
As for the competition aspect, I think that when things get to be robotic that competition can be a problem. Winning for the sake of only wanting to be the best doesn't teach your students anything, at least in my opinion. However, when you're competing because your students are enthusiastic and love to perform, winning can be a benefit. If your school system sees that the department is working hard and producing positive results, you may get more support and/or better funding. Either way though, I do not feel that musical excellence can be determined by someone elses requirements or standards, but if you're competing for the right reasons I don't see how it could hurt.
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