In April, we had a great discussion with our SDCC music directors where we asked “what qualities make a good chorister”?* It was such an insightful conversation that we thought it would be interesting to get the choristers’ point of view. We recently visited Ruthie Millgard, SDCC’s artistic director, and 4 of our chamber choristers, at the senior living community of Vi at La Jolla Village. We watched the choristers delight seniors through the Music and Memory program and caught up with a few to chat about their SDCC experiences and ask them what qualities they think make a good chorister.
Emily Chen is a graduating high school senior and has sung with SDCC for 8 years. Emily’s experience with SDCC is positive and fun and she plans to join a student a cappella group in college. Emily states that she was shy when she joined the choir in 5th grade; however, meeting and working with other choristers, going on tour and retreats have helped her form meaningful friendships.
Emily states that a good chorister is someone who likes and enjoys singing, and is willing to listen to other’s perspectives. It is important to listen to each other in order to tune well. She shared, “Being in the choir gives you the opportunity to meet people you otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to meet in school and the openness to meet others elevates your experience overall.”
Ava Abena is a graduating high school senior and has sung with SDCC for 7 years. She loves the community aspect of the choir as well as advancing her musical literacy. She is going to miss performing in spectacular venues to express her musical talent, in addition to attending social events with her friends she has met through SDCC. Ava has been doing Music and Memory almost every month since the program launched and loves spending time with the seniors and seeing their mental progress through singing nursery/childhood songs. Ava thinks a good chorister is passionate about singing and willing to try no matter the difficulty. Initially she notes had a hard time learning the music but kept trying until she finally improved her music literacy.
Steven Chen is a 7th grader and has been with SDCC for 7 years. He loves being with fellow choristers who share his passion for music, the volunteer opportunities through SDCC, and going on tours and performing at concerts. Today was Steven’s first time volunteering at Music and Memory and he was happy to be able to help the seniors. Steven shared that perseverance and diligence are qualities that make a good chorister, in addition to a good voice. He said, “It usually takes more than a couple of tries when you are doing recording assignments and having the diligence to work through the failures to finally get a good recording, that’s the best part.”
Mako Takai has been singing with SDCC for 2 years. Mako came to the USA 6 years ago and initially had difficulty talking to people. She feels joining the choir and singing have helped her to communicate and connect better with others. Today was Mako’s first time volunteering at Music and Memory and was glad to see how energetic and happy the seniors were singing along. Mako thinks a good chorister should have a good connection with others. “If we can have a good connection with others then we can be a good group singing together.”
A good connection with others, perseverance and diligence, and passion for singing and listening to others, these are the qualities that, according to some of our most experienced choristers, make a good chorister.
Watch a video of the recent ‘music and memory’ activity at the senior living community Vi at La Jolla Village referenced below.
*Read the April blog post on “What Qualities Make a Good Chorister” here.