Recital Guidelines for Choral Conducting

General Policies:

  • All recitals must take place before the last day of YSM classes
  • Over the course of your time at Yale, you are expected to conduct music from a variety of time periods, styles, and genres, both sacred and secular
  • All first-year repertoire choices must be approved by your conducting teacher. The majority of your repertoire should come from the choral libraries available to you. All second-year programs must be approved by Jeff Douma. See departmental guidelines, which are sent to you in the spring term of your first year, for more specific policies.
  • Students must wait until membership of the Camerata, Glee Club, and Schola Cantorum have been finalized before approaching singers about any other choruses. Do not poach singers from faculty-led ensembles!
  • For additional recital policies consult the YSM Student Handbook 2022-23, which can be downloaded from the Student Resources tab of ArtsVision anytime throughout the year.

First-Year MM Recitals (Required Recital): First-year choral conducting students direct the Repertory Chorus, which sings one recital each term.

Scheduling:

  • Repertory Chorus recitals are held on a Monday in November and a Monday in April, both at 5

p.m. in Battell or Marquand Chapel

  • Rehearsals are held on Mondays, 4:05-6:05 pm, in the Glee Club Room

Planning-First-year conductors, in consultation with your teachers, are responsible for all aspects of planning and managing the Repertory Chorus, including

  • auditioning and inviting singers
  • requesting and obtaining music from the ISM choral library
  • planning rehearsals
  • hiring instrumentalists (apart from the accompanist)
  • confirming booking of rehearsal venues
  • preparing program content

Repertoire:

  • For the fall-term recital:
    • c. 15 minutes of repertoire per conductor, totaling an hour
    • mostly a cappella, but the chapel organ or piano may be used
  • For the spring-term recital:
    • one larger work with chamber-sized instrumental accompaniment, c. 15 minutes per conductor, totaling an hour

Budget:

  • Each semester, there is a budget for up to 24 paid singers for 12 rehearsals and the performance:
    • 4 section leaders, paid $18/hour
    • 20 chorus singers, paid $14/hour
    • 1 accompanist, paid $25/hour
  • For the second term only, there is a total budget of $1,000 for instrumentalists
    • Instrumentalists are paid $25/hour
  • The Payroll Assistant is responsible for making sure that all instrumentalists and singers are paid correctly and on time

Programs:

  • Jeff Douma must approve your program information before you submit it to the Concert Production Office
  • At least 4 weeks before the recital, submit print-ready program information to the Concert Production Coordinator (rachel.segger@yale.edu)
  • Program submissions should be in Microsoft Word; texts and translations can be in Word (tabbed) or Excel
  • Program information must include
    • titles of works
    • full names of composers and their birth and death dates
    • program notes
    • texts and translations
    • roster of performers
    • biographical blurbs about yourself and any soloists

Second-Year MM Recitals (Degree Recitals): Second-year choral conducting students direct the Recital Chorus.

Scheduling:

  • Recitals are typically held in October, December, February, March and April, beginning at either 5 or 7 p.m. in Battell or Marquand Chapel
  • Rehearsals are held on Thursdays, 4:05-6:05 pm
  • Jeff Douma confirms recital dates at the end the of the spring semester of your first year

Planning:

  • During the spring term of your first year, you will receive departmental guidelines for degree recitals
  • By June 30 after your first year, submit to Jeff Douma:
    • a complete orchestration list
    • a preliminary budget
    • notification of ISM instruments you wish to have moved and/or tuned
  • As soon as Jeff Douma has approved your orchestration list, preliminary budget, and list of instruments, submit these to the ISM Concert Production Office
  • In September of your second year, submit your recital contract to the YSM Concert Office
  • Each second-year student is expected to manage one of their peers’ recitals
  • It is your responsibility to organize a front of house team to handle venue logistics
  • By 3 weeks prior to the recital, meet with the Concert Production Assistant (aric.isaacs@yale.edu) to confirm equipment and logistical needs and to plan the run of show, including
    • green-lighting (unlocking) of venue doors
    • hiring of door monitors
    • moving Marquand chairs (you are responsible for finding volunteers)
    • engaging ushers (you are responsible for finding volunteers)

Repertoire:

  • Recitals should contain no more than one hour of music
  • Repertoire must be approved by Jeff Douma before it is submitted to the ISM Concert Production Office
  • By June 30 after your first year, submit your repertoire to Jeff Douma and to the ISM Concert Production Office for music ordering, including
    • full composer names
    • titles of works
    • publishers of piano/vocal scores and/or choral parts (with ISBN and cost)
    • instrumentation
    • publishers of orchestral parts (with reference numbers and cost)
    • Do NOT merely send a link to the publisher’s website
    • Do NOT order any music yourself, other than your conducting score
  • You are responsible for purchasing your own full scores with your own funds

Budget:

  • When you submit your repertoire to Jeff Douma, also submit a preliminary budget
  • At least 2 weeks before your first rehearsal, submit a final budget using the template in this resource guide
  • Each conductor is responsible for hiring members of the chorus and orchestra
  • The budget includes a maximum of:
    • 24 paid singers for 12 hours of rehearsal, 3 hours of dress rehearsal, and 3 hours of performance
      • 4 section leaders, paid $20/hour
      • 20 chorus singers, paid $15.75/hour
      • 1 accompanist, paid $25/hour
    • $1,500 for each recital for instrumentalists
      • Instrumentalists are paid $25/hour

Programs:

  • At least one month before your recital, submit program information to the YSM Concert Office
  • Program information includes
    • list of works, in concert order, with movements listed if applicable
    • composers’ names and dates
    • names of soloists, in the appropriate places on the page
  • At least one month before your recital, submit a separate document to the YSM Concert Office containing camera-ready
    • program notes
    • texts and translations
    • roster of performers
    • biographical blurbs about yourself and any soloists

The office will photocopy the document and insert it into the program

  • If these program deadlines are not met, you are responsible for printing the materials at your own cost

Degree Recital Recordings:

  • There is no native recording equipment in Marquand or Battell Chapels. Consult with the ISM Concert Production Office about having your recital recorded in those venues

MMA Recitals: MMA students complete the same requirements as MM students, and they also present a lecture during their second year

OMA Recitals: A concert near the time of DMA orals is required to complete the DMA degree