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
- 24 paid singers for 12 hours of rehearsal, 3 hours of dress rehearsal, and 3 hours of performance
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