“Stealing” Tips & Techniques from the Best
William Verity
Last year, an incredible tenor from my chorus returned from all-eastern conference and ac- cused me (playfully) of stealing. Truth? I steal. Tere - I said it. Everyday, in almost every rehearsal, I steal from Dr. Timothy Seelig.
A few years back, I was privileged enough to attend a workshop at the NYSSMA Winter conference given by Dr. Timothy Seelig and it didn’t take long to understand why this session was standing room only. In this workshop, I was quickly and thoroughly amazed by the simplicity of his concepts and effectiveness of his exercises.
Upon returning to my rehearsals, I was excited to implement what I had witnessed and found that the results were both immediate and deep. I was, and continue to be, grateful that I was in attendance that day. Dr. Timothy Seelig unapol- ogetically made me a thief. I quickly ordered his books and watched his videos, and now routinely quote him in rehearsals and work- shops. I became intrigued with him, entranced by his pedagogical efficiency and a believer of his real-world rehearsal techniques.
Tis summer, I caught up with world-renowned music educator and director of the San Fran- cisco Gay Men’s Chorus, Dr. Timothy Seelig, where we covered such topics as vocal pedago- gy, rehearsal techniques, carrying the Olympic torch (!) and the upcoming Lavender Pen Tour, which celebrates the group’s 40th year, and more importantly, will spread positivity in a time of conflict, and more importantly, pro- mote acceptance and love through music. Aſter monopolizing his Friday evening for two hours, I proudly bring you this interview.
Lavender Pen Tour
WV: Good aſternoon! What are you currently working on?
TS: Well, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus is celebrating its 40th season. To commem-
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orate the achievement we began discussing an upcoming tour to locations such as China and France, for example. Instead, we decided we needed to stay home and encourage our LGBTQ+ brothers mostly in the south. So, we decided to celebrate the group by exploring performances in Mississippi, Alabama, Ten- nessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, which we have called the Lavender Pen Tour. We are taking 300 on this tour where we will be singing at 5 major concert venues, along with universities, churches, etc. High- lights for the 8-day tour will involve the closing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge where 300-400 of us will march across the bridge in Selma, and also a performance on the state capital steps in Mississippi.
WV: My desire for requesting this interview stems from your recent NYSSMA winter conference workshop. Te short review is that I was blown away with your very concise, effi- cient exercises and techniques, many of which I immediately implemented Monday aſter returning home from conference. Tell me about those conference experiences.
TS: One that comes to mind happened at a music conference in Ohio, where I was booked to present to choral directors. Te room was packed and when I made my opening band director’s joke - no one laughed... I said “May- be we should step back. How many of you are choral directors?” None. “How many of you are band directors?” All of them. I’d been listed in the wrong track and began to panic. I thought, well they all showed up for the Perfect Rehears- al, but they thought it would be the Perfect Band Rehearsal. I moved forward with my cho- ral presentation and ended up having the best response from those band directors. Moral of the story: We have more in common with each other than we think we do.
WV: You began as an opera singer in Europe. What was the impetus for you to change your focus to directing choirs and music education
Choral
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