Collaboration

My conducting lesson was cancelled yesterday since it's a pretty big week for my teacher with one of his other jobs.  While I miss having the lesson, I was not prepared for my new piece- which is Benjamin Britten's Festival Te Deum.  I have looked at it.  I have markings.  I know the patterns and some of the shape I want, but I certainly do not feel comfortable enough even to fake it yet.  This weekend John and I are going camping, but I will have to bring my conducting.  Gone all weekend- and I can't take that time off of conducting.  The good news is that I will bring no other work with me.  

Last night in my orchestral conducting class my professor explained a situation he had happening in a community orchestra he conducts.  He is the artistic director/conductor of a community orchestra in Michigan.  They have collaborated in the past with the chorale in town.  Apparently the director asked JMS (my professor) to collaborate on something, and he said sure.  But then the director scheduled a concert a week before an orchestra concert.  JMS told the choir director they couldn't make that date work and the choir director said they were going to move forward with it anyway.  So now they are not collaborating.  And JMS shook his head and said, "I've just about had it with choral directors."  (Except, he said it with his German accent).  Stephen, a fellow choral student, and I giggled a little and JMS looked at us and said, "But not with you."  But it was evident, from various things last night, that JMS was not happy with people who don't collaborate.  He made a few other remarks too, although less obvious.  

This led me to think about collaboration.  Sometimes collaboration is difficult because the directors are not on the same page.  The collaborations I have done that really work are the ones that are thoroughly discussed and envisioned beforehand.  Not simply a, "It would be great to collaborate on this- what do you think?"  But an excitement, a discussion of the process, of what a collaboration would take up in terms of time, etc.  And then it takes trust (that the other person will prepare their ensemble, that who ever is conducting will do a good job, etc).  I enjoy collaborating.  I think it gets more people invested and involved.  

Alright, back to Festival Te Deum!