Undergraduate Choral Conducting Blog

Las Amarillas! Need I say more. This was the most intricate piece I've dealt with. I was excited to hear all the parts together which is so different from practice. It's so nice to be able to have a live "choir". Going into this experience, I was wanting to focus on a steady beat as well as cueing. I didn't really accomplish those things. The video is so helpful in seeing where the problem is. Matt talked about the 3rd beat slowing down and ultimately the tempo slowing. Seeing what was happening was crucial for me to be able to know where the problem was, because just talking about it didn't help. I see that I was starting at one tempo and then conducting at a different one.
I'm not sure why I used my head, but I think that that was a greater emphasis for the altos, so that's why I tried to use more of my body. I think this gesture could be affective, but not always. It could be used for an accented cue in a piece, but not every cue.
I like how this piece challenged us rhythmically; we couldn't wing it. We had to practice and understand the basic melody and the outline of the piece. I didn't find myself getting lost too much, but I think that was because I was the last one to go, so I knew how it should sound!