The Choral Contrarians

Mar 05 2025 56 ep. 64 mins 9
The Choral Contrarians Podcast artwork

A couple of friendly conductors bantering about complex issues affecting the choral world.

  Music  Arts  Education
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Lost Episode: The Gift Economy

Mar 05 2025 77 mins  
"The Gift Economy" is a Choral Contrarian Lost Episode, recorded in Summer, 2024. Richard and Eric use the recent article "Toward a Gift Economy," composed by Simon Oliver (published July 2024) in the Plough Quarterly, as a springboard to both generally and specifically discuss 'gift' as it relates to a culture, economy, and potentially an artistic organization. Can the concept of

The Intersection of Emotion and Performance

May 22 2024 77 mins  
Richard and Eric try to locate the intersection point of emotion and performance. They not only attempt to differentiate the difference between how emotion works for the audience versus performer, but also debate the value and perception of emotion's usefulness as a performer of music. Do we overvalue, or misjudge, emotion in the act of performance?

I had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was…

May 14 2024 61 mins  
Richard and Eric wonder about the goings-on of music and performance in dreams. What piece is heard there? Who wrote that piece? What ensemble performed the piece you heard in the dream? Is there anything to be learned from those questions? Maybe there is something similar going on when a conductor references their mental/aural imagery when adjudicating and rehearsing their ensembl

Ye Olde Fireside Chat

Dec 28 2023 63 mins  
Richard and Eric gather round the old fireplace to chat about a variety of things, including reading a wonderful note from Swedish composer Mattias Sjöberg. High-back chairs and a roaring fire is a wonderful time to reminisce and celebrate hygge during the dark, winter season.

Wandering the Choral Backrooms

Dec 14 2023 55 mins  
Eric and Richard ask the question no one is asking (and maybe for good reason): Is there an intersection between the concept of liminal space and choral music? They discuss this fairly defined aesthetic phenomena and posit if any aspect of it can be seen in the light of music performance. Oh, and they rank their favorite solfege syllables. Just riveting in every way.

The Future of Music?

Dec 04 2023 68 mins  
Richard and Eric dive deep into an article in The Critic, entitled "Have I Seen the Future of Music; On a performance in three dimensions for all five senses," by Norman Lebrecht. The article largely reviews pianist Yuja Wang's recent collaboration with renowned English artist David Hockney. The author posits that, through the use of technology and three-dimensional space, this per

Destined to Drown in the Digital Sea

Nov 13 2023 84 mins  
Richard and Eric, after struggling to come up with topics for the pocast, resort to asking ChatGPT for help. They review and analyze what offerings AI provides, which leads to a much larger discussion of how AI might intersect the fine arts, most specifically choral music. It is an interesting deep dive into the digital sea.

The Wallpaper of Spacetime

Oct 26 2023 48 mins  
Richard and Eric look into a quote about art and music that has been making the rounds of social media recently. Formally attributed to postmodernist/neo expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, it reads: “Art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time.” Why does the statement illicit a strong response from those in the fine arts? What could it actually mean, or

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Oct 19 2023 67 mins  
Richard and Eric have returned from the proverbial grave! They catch up a bit and then briefly tackle the difficult task of creating a discernible ethic an ensemble can utilize and rally around on a practical level. They look specifically to a recent movie: "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse" directed by Peter Baynton and Charlie Mackesy (adapted from a book of the same name

Perfection(ism)

Feb 09 2022 67 mins  
Richard and Eric take a look at perfection within the context of our choral experiences. What actually is perfection as it relates to choral rehearsal and performance? Is it an attainable goal, or is it actually a shadowy, distant mountain in which the closer we get to it, the farther away it becomes? How do our individual contexts play a role in our conception of perfection? Can w