What drives artistic direction, from a choral perspective?

By Joanna Ebbutt

Who better to ask than Upper Canada Chorister’s own Laurie Evan Fraser? She has decades of choral leadership experience, although we would like to think that the one closest to her heart is her 31 years as artistic director – and co-founder – of UCC! Laurie also has a long history of collaborating with other choirs, locally and internationally.

It quickly becomes clear to anyone who sings in an active choir how much passion, commitment and sheer hard work goes into bringing forth a sound that enthrals choristers and audiences alike.

Laurie recently agreed to share some thoughts on how it all comes to pass.

Photo by Steve Bannerman.

What does a good artistic director have to consider when developing a choir’s artistic path?

Generally speaking, first you should have a concept in mind, such as the overall sound of the choir, that you’re aiming to achieve. Based on that, you then select repertoire that aligns with and supports this sound. If you wait until you start working with a choir to figure out what sound will work best, it’s not nearly as effective.

When developing artistic direction, you must think about your own relationship with the choir. At a conference, a presenter said that the most essential element for a successful conductor is to love the music but especially to love your singers. If you can honestly say that is true, it augurs well for the success of your group.

The other key is to carefully consider what your choir’s mission and values are. In UCC we focus on diversity, in our membership and our repertoire. Other choirs zero in more specifically on what kind of music they want to sing, whether it’s baroque, contemporary, gospel, a cappella or anything else. Choristers are usually drawn to a choir because of its focus.

Keeping these basic guidelines in mind, how have you applied them to UCC?

Like most choral directors, I am constantly looking for new repertoire as well as thinking about diverse ways to present more familiar repertoire. I belong to various groups, such as Choirs Ontario, Chorus America, and Choral Canada, partly to keep abreast of the current choral scene.

What goes into how you select our music?

As I sit and think about what I’d like us to sing for upcoming concerts, my own intuition plays as important a role as my knowledge. But I do aim to present a wide range of music, in various genres and styles.

I also like us to focus on singing in different languages. Technique-wise, it makes us listen better, which in turn leads us to blending our voices better. As importantly, because music represents so many diverse cultures, if we sing a piece in its original language, I feel that we get much closer musically to the original intent of the composer.

Music is universal, and I profoundly believe that if we all sang together more, there wouldn’t be any conflict as we’d be meeting in a field of commonality.

Can you expand on how intuition plays a role when you’re planning concerts?

Sometimes ideas come to me, out of nowhere, and I have to be willing to explore them. For example, a few years ago I had planned one program and closer to the time decided to change directions to work instead on a concert of sacred music to honour Grace Church on-the-Hill, our rehearsal and concert home for so many years. The concert took its title from and was inspired by a setting of Ubi Caritas, written by the Norwegian composer, Ola Gjeilo. Gjeilo's music is ethereal with rich harmonies and haunting melodies. Included in the concert was Gjeilo's Northern Lights with a piano accompaniment that the composer had previously improvised in a performance. There is an immediacy with any aspect of aleatory music, and  this concept was a revelation for some of our choristers, and a testament to the fact that music is not static, it’s a growing, living, breathing entity, and it’s incredibly exciting when opportunities like that present themselves.

My instincts came to play in a big way, prior to our 30th anniversary concert. We had to change much of the repertoire very suddenly, because the composer commissioned to write a major piece for us dropped out. I had to make some quick decisions and took rather a gamble, but it worked out beautifully. We ended up with a quite different but inspiring program that largely featured budding young composers. So, it’s definitely possible to create something wonderful, spontaneously, when there is no other choice!

This is another great example of spontaneity and listening to your inner truth. Louisiana native Jon Batiste was scheduled to sing the national anthem at the recent Super Bowl in New Orleans. He had asked his artist/writer wife, Suleika Jaouad, to paint his grand piano for his pre-game performance. As she was undergoing a gruelling chemotherapy regimen, she felt she couldn’t take it on. However, just 36 hours before the concert, she changed her mind, confident that the combination of adrenaline and the importance of her creative contribution to his music would ensure that she completed the project in time. And indeed, she did, resulting in a gorgeous grand piano, covered with butterflies.

Piano photo by @SuleikaJaouadPage. Jon Batiste photo by L Paul Mann / Shutterstock.com

Batiste had already been writing a lot of music for her, using butterfly imagery, and their metamorphosis in her painting represented the two of them surmounting horrendously challenging times. I was really struck with how they went through the process, and how through their combined creativity musically and visually, their path became clear.

How far ahead do you plan our concerts?

I like to plan several years in advance. That said, we must be flexible when it’s called for, due to events within our own group or within the world community. For example, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we sang a Ukrainian prayer within a concert that originally featured only French music. It felt important to us to do so and was appreciated by our various audiences. It was especially appreciated at a community concert that we performed at Saints Peter and Paul Retirement Residence, which is largely geared towards Ukrainian seniors. As a rule, we don’t make political statements but, in this case, everyone felt strongly that it was appropriate.

You’ve mentioned that you like to educate both UCC choristers and our audiences – how does that works?

Education is really important, as you introduce music that you love to both your choir and your audience.

Often when people join a choir, they are initially concerned about the music and whether they’ll be able to handle it. However, as they become more familiar with the music, they start to love it. I see this a lot.

Plus, I find that when we return to works that we have sung in the past, we always find something new. This was vividly illustrated during the pandemic, when the Gryphon Trio (one of my favourite chamber groups) began connecting with younger audiences by livestreaming to elementary schools. They encouraged questions, and at one point, when they were about to play some music they had first performed 20 years ago, a student said it must be boring, returning to an “old” piece. Not at all, was the musicians’ response, it’s exciting because we always discover something new every time we go back to it.

I firmly believe that UCC’s enthusiasm and love of the music is communicated to our audience and frequently triggers an interest in music that they have never listened to before. At the first in-person holiday concert we gave after the pandemic, we included music related to Kwanzaa. A couple that had never attended one of our concerts before came especially because they were interested in hearing music from Kwanzaa as well as traditional Christmas and Chanukkah music.

How do you like to handle music that is challenging for our choristers?

Well, I believe deeply that whenever we are working on more difficult music, it’s important not to approach it from the standpoint of “what if it doesn’t succeed?” Instead, I believe from the outset that we can make it work… we can be flexible and will make it happen! What is challenging to some can be easy for others, which can make singing in a choir of diverse musical backgrounds an asset. Those who are more comfortable can take the lead and support the ones with less experience.

I also like to highlight the talent within our choir. At last December’s concert, for example, we worked on a unique arrangement of the Wexford Carol. I said to the choristers, let’s just play with it. I’m aware that this makes people nervous initially, but we usually end up with something marvellous, even if you don’t know how it will turn out at the beginning.

We create our own limits, if we can look beyond that, anything is possible. I am blessed that my choir trusts me to walk through this journey together.