Bay Choral Music eZine
September Issue, No. 5
by Jeffrey Parola
HAMPTON: Jeff, you recently finished grad school in San Francisco?
PAROLA: Yes, I received my MM in Composition from the SF Conservatory of Music in
the Spring of 2005. I studied primarily with David Conte.
HAMPTON: Quite a well-known composer. That must be an extraordinary benefit of
studying in such a prestigious program.
PAROLA: Yes, David Conte is a wonderful composer who is known throughout the Bay
Area and many parts of the United States. He has been a true mentor and has always
sought nothing but success for me. He is well connected in the world of music and
has been one of my greatest advocates.
HAMPTON: Did you receive that degree of attention from most of the staff you worked with?
PAROLA: By virtue of its size, it is inevitable that a student at the SF Conservatory will regularly interact with students and
professors alike. While Conte has been most actively supportive, the faculty and staff of the Conservatory have always been
a resource for me, and they continue to be as I make my way in the professional music world.
HAMPTON: Continuing benefits. Sounds like you're getting your money's worth. Speaking of which, was it terribly hard to
find music scholarships?
PAROLA: I didn't pursue any private funding, but the school was generous in offering me a scholarship upon acceptance.
Tuition isn’t exactly inexpensive, and it was a relief to receive the scholarship to take the bite off of the tuition fees. So, no
it wasn't difficult for me, because this particular scholarship sort of fell in my lap.
HAMPTON: How exactly does a scholarship fall in your lap?
PAROLA: The Conservatory generously distributes scholarships to its students and tries to give as much money
as possible to as many students as possible. It is based on the combined criteria of need and merit, and I believe
it is part of the application process.
HAMPTON: The monetary cost of grad school is a big fear for many. What were some of the personal costs for you?
PAROLA: I don’t feel I suffered at the hands of graduate school. Sure, there were hardships. It's difficult to balance
making a living and going to school, being creative and productive while maintaining a healthy social life, learning
about a new school in a new city filled with new people while preserving one's own identity, etc. All of that was
difficult to some degree, but what made it all worth it was also the joy of a true education: one that is garnered
inside and outside of the classroom, one that educates the whole person. I can't say I truly suffered, but I weathered
the punches to make me a stronger musician and person.
HAMPTON: How did you adapt to San Francisco after your studies at UCLA? Do you think that the large university, large
city, LA environment versus the small school, smaller city, SF environment made a huge difference?
PAROLA: LA possesses a distinct urban energy that I believe San Francisco does not have. My experience in LA was
generally a positive one, minus the rocky relationship I had with the smog and traffic. People there seemed to be happy
and excited to wake up and get out every day. It's such a diverse, complex, and fascinating town. The UCLA community,
in particular, was sunny, bright, playful, inquisitive, and fun! I loved every moment I spent on that campus. San Francisco
surprised me. I expected a New York-like vibe, but instead, people seemed laidback and nonchalant about day-to-day life.
San Francisco didn't have that spark that Los Angeles had. I think LA was an adventurous place for me, and my composition
sort of followed suit. It took me a while to get used to the culture of San Francisco and to learn to appreciate it. It started
with discovering the natural beauty of the city, in all its topographically diverse glory. I was also impressed at the
general level of education amongst the city's inhabitants, which has aided a great deal in my own intellectual growth. If
anything, my music has become more beautiful since moving to San Francisco, which may be a testament to the
surroundings in which I live.
HAMPTON: Describe your graduate composition program.
PAROLA: At the Conservatory, the emphasis was on writing. While we were required to take several academic courses, the
graduate student was expected to write, and to write often. In our seminar classes, we formed a unique camaraderie around
discussion, argument. We often hotly debated several issues surrounding composition and music in general. The environment
at the Conservatory was stimulating and inspiring, which deepened and gave purpose to my writing.
HAMPTON: Some might interpret that as the program having eliminated some of your freedom. By departing from the
adventurous, do you mean the program helped you turn your scattered writing into more focused, detailed composing?
PAROLA: It was actually a personal choice for me to become less adventurous. The composition program at the Conservatory
fosters a broad range of compositional perspectives. For example, while I wouldn't necessarily consider David Conte to be a
reactionary composer, he certainly is one of a greater sense of convention and tradition. On the other end of the spectrum,
there is composer Dan Becker, who deeply believes that convention should be challenged. I chose Conte upon entering the
Conservatory because I wanted a deeper sense of convention and tradition; we shared similar compositional ideals. It wasn't
the Conservatory that chose to change me; I chose to change myself.
HAMPTON: Tell me about the performances of your own works.
PAROLA: It's an interesting thing to hear my music performed, especially in a live performance. A unique and intense anxiety
forms within me, and I rarely enjoy it; but once the performance is recorded, I enjoy it immensely after listening to it! It's the
unpredictability of live performance that is so jarring. It might be ego or fear of failure (or both), but all I know for sure is that
anxiety is consistently present with every performance of my work. I find the first rehearsal of my work to be particularly
disconcerting. I have a very clear picture of what the piece sounds like, but my perception is of the finished product, not the
work in progress. I don't particularly enjoy attending those rehearsals, either. Ultimately, what keeps me writing is the finished
product on paper and in performance. There is something addictive about that sort of accomplishment, perhaps distantly similar
to that of procreation. The composition is a part of me, it is a consequence of my genes, and it has come to existence because
I created it. It is a direct result of the creative impetus inside of me, yet it exists beyond me and has a life of its own.
HAMPTON: I think it's safe to say the students did justice to your music. Did you participate in the annual composition competitions?
PAROLA: Yes I did. The first year I was there, it was the 4th Annual Choral Composition Competition. The second year was the
Song Competition.
HAMPTON: How would those students fare in competition with other Bay Area music programs?
PAROLA: The Conservatory is the most comprehensive music school in Northern California, and undoubtedly outranks all others
in the area. The intellectual bastions of Berkeley and Stanford have solid academic programs, but the Conservatory possesses a
full range of Western Classical musical opportunity. It has an adequate intellectual foundation, all the ensembles a music school
should contain, a healthy opera program, a hefty faculty covering a diverse range of disciplines and more. Most of these items
are missing or deficient in Bay Area and Northern California schools, which places the Conservatory at the top of the list.
Naturally, this type of environment attracts a quality student body.
HAMPTON: I hope more schools push their programs to reach that level. Locally, where else might folks look to extend their
music education?
PAROLA: There’s SF City Colleges and SF Sate, San Jose State, Cal State East Bay, Mills, UC Davis, and several Catholic liberal arts
schools like Holy Names. I know these schools offer music programs, some of them very good, but unfortunately their national
presence isn’t as defined as it could be. It's surprising that the Bay Area doesn't have more world-class music institutions.
Music and the arts are a huge part of the Bay Area's identity in the U.S. and the world. We have some of the greatest musical
organizations, such as the SF Symphony and SF Opera, several orchestras and small opera companies, fantastic choirs,
thousands of freelance musicians, a thriving Indie-music scene, and more. It makes little sense that such a small part of the Bay
Area's music world is devoted to higher education. I'm not sure why this phenomenon is a reality in the Bay Area. Perhaps it's due
to economic realities or indifference from schools and educators. No matter which way it is sliced, it is a shame, and it doesn't
seem to have to be that way.
HAMPTON: So how are you utilizing your degree to raise the level of quality music education and training?
PAROLA: I have been devoted to educating others with music since I was a teenager. Many musicians find it difficult to commit
themselves to teaching while pursuing a performance career, but the reality is that it’s difficult to piecemeal a solid income,
especially in an expensive city such as San Francisco. I had a lucky find when I came across a job posting for a position as
Assistant Director of Music at San Francisco's Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory High School. I got the job and found that
teaching high school kids is extremely rewarding and satisfying. The lovely thing about teaching music is that I don't have to
convince them that they love music. It’s already a part of their soul – an integral part of their life. To offer them an opportunity
to expand their musical horizons plants a seed, I hope, to continue the life and improve the health of music in our community.
HAMPTON: We certainly hope so. Thank you for sharing your experience and insight.
SF LYRIC CHORUS DOES WELL, THOUGH LACKING LYRICS
CONCERT REVIEW
by Jonathon Hampton
What music doesn’t sound good at Trinity Episcopal Church in San Francisco? The place is an acoustic paradise. In this
The series about a struggling musician, his landing in the Bay Area, his trials and tribulations, aspiring success, and his
Hangover Hero
instance, however, good is as high an accolade as I can give for the San Francisco Lyric Chorus. The magnificent resonance
of Trinity huggles the flowing phrases of Medieval and Renaissance music, but Baroque and beyond can get a bit muddled,
as was the case with their August 27th presentation of the Haydn Requiem and Ralph Vaughan William’s Dona Nobis Pacem.
They sang well, but I felt a lack of energy from the choir; paired with an absence of diction, the music failed to move me as
much as it certainly could have. There were definitely good voices composing the moderately sized, decade old SF Lyric
Chorus; there’s no doubt about that. This music, however, demanded more.
Michael Haydn’s Requiem crept up, starting off demure, soon growing exponentially as parts joined in, and the resonance
fed singers more of their own sound. That resonance certainly helped the choir’s variety of semi-pro individuals sound well
blended. It hindered them, though, when it came to blending with the instrumentalists. The Arlekin String Quartet, also with
timpanist John Weeks and organist David Hatt, played fiercely and, as often happens, sometimes followed the notes more
closely than the conductor, sometimes getting ahead of the choir, but that’s pretty much a given for any joint engagement.
Rare tempo tantrums aside, the instrumentalists were excellent.
Director Robert Gurney often conducted modestly, sometimes with one hand, but always managed to get plenty from his
singers. He got even more from the soloists. I won’t go into detail about the magnificent Haydn SATB quartet, because this
is about the choir. I’ll simply say that they each sang with passion and sounded great together – Julia Earl as Soprano,
Katherine McKee as Alto, Kevin Baum singing Tenor, and Thomas Hart the resident Bass. Soprano, Alessandra Kameron
gave a particularly memorable performance from the moment she opened the Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis, lauding a
powerful beckon for peace. She cried out all through the work, each time heightening the level of passion and engaging
audience members. The tuning often drifted with her solos, though I couldn’t clearly tell whether it was the fault of the
soprano, the choir, the strings, or the organ – matching temperaments can be difficult with
sound carrying as much
as it did in Trinity.
The first movement molded nicely into Beat! Beat! Drums, with text by Walt Whitman as striking as the title implies. Unfortunately,
the words were eaten up by the organ and rushed by the demanding tempo. Hart commanded the third movement, Reconciliation,
expressing the repent of a soldier, and he was well supported by the choir with its clear dynamic contrast. The fourth movement
gave listeners a break from imagery of fighting, only to reveal the harsh tragedy of death– a funeral procession for two fallen
soldiers, father and son. Again, SF Lyric Chorus did the notes justice, but not the text. English is my native tongue, yet I felt like
a foreigner. A great venue allows you to hear yourself all too well, and a flood of focus on the notes and revelry in harmonics can
prove detrimental to other aspects of the music.
The fifth movement turned sorrow into fear with song of the Angel of Death’s lurking on the battlefield. More poetic text, fused
with biblical testament raised emotions, leading to an uplifting final movement which at last gave some resolve by way of major
consonance and a change of words reflecting the hope of peace to come for all. My hopes are that the San Francisco Lyric Chorus
continues to fine tune its sound and develop its good potential. They’re well on their way, entering their eleventh season. For
more information, visit www.sflc.org.
SINGING TO MYSELF
young humor about it all
Everybody’s done it. Singing drunk. It’s great. You get a nice low and relaxed laryngeal position, deep relaxed breath, the
focus is ringing, and any note you’re meant to hit is there. I’ve sung concerts, juries, and even been on a Grammy winning
recording three sheets to the wind, and it is lovely.
I remember one frigid January evening when my roommate and I had a keg in my apt building for a concert pre-party.
Donned in concert attire and in the middle of a series of keg stands, I decided to call up my girlfriend. I asked her if she by
any chance had a black skirt and long-sleeve shirt. She did indeed, so I politely asked if she would so kindly join our
concert that evening. Nobody noticed, as it was a joint concert with three choirs. If you did not recognize someone
on stage, you assumed they were in a different choir. Oh, those college days.
Once, before the jury of my senior year music standing, I had the immaculate idea to see if the keg beer from a previous
party (3 days prior) was still palatable. It was early on in the day and my jury was not until four in the afternoon, so I
wasn’t concerned it would be a problem. Unfortunately, one drink in, a friend happened to pass below my porch as I
poured, and I naturally had to invite him up for a taste of the stale beer. By the time 3 pm rolled around, we had ourselves
a jaunting chorus: “Some like it hot! Some like it cold! Some like it in the keg, three days old!” My voice instructor, who
was one of the jurors, afterwards commented, “I have never seen you so vulnerable… it was fantastic.” That’s word for
word.
As for the Grammy-winning recording, they wanted us to sing over Easter holiday weekend. Though I am not religious, I like
to think I have the right to claim at least one religion’s holidays for my own. That year I happened to choose
Christianity, and I was deeply offended that they had set aside Good Friday as a recording day. “Boo that!” I thought.
So, I decided I was justified in showing up to every rehearsal, performance, and recording session half in the bag.
Technically, the only rule I broke was showing up “un-scented.”
Don’t be fooled. There is no art to singing drunk. Any amateur can do it. It merely takes bad judgment and alcohol. The true
art, however, is one that is achieved only by those who have achieved superior command of their technique. Yes, you
guessed it. If you can sing hungover, then you, my friend, have what I like to call, “the skillz to pay the billz.”
Let’s set up the scenario. Imagine we’re on choir tour to, say… Argentina, and every night must be a party; otherwise it’s a
waste of a free trip. So there you are downing the brews, trying to spit your game at the local honeys while slaughtering
their native tongue. Assuming the worst and most likely outcome, you’re not only sleeping alone, but you’re wasted,
sleeping with shoes on, having not drunk your weight in water before hitting the sack, and you’ve a concert the next
morning. No problem! This is what you must do:
1) Start out the day like any other hangover. Where as Wheaties is the breakfast of champions, I personally enjoy two
aspirin and water… the breakfast of last night’s champions.
2) Take a shower! Not only because you’ll reek of cheap perfume and or cologne, but also because it’s a great chance
to steam up the bathroom and get some moisture down your lungs while trying to vocalize in that high disconnected
falsetto that only comes after a great night preceding a horrible morning.
3) If you feel the need to heave, make sure to breathe deeply, puke silently, and use breath support. Save the drama
for the stage, and focus on saving that voice. Refrain from the wrenching noises and puke from the diaphragm like
a trained singer should.
4) At all costs, eat or drink something! Try to put down something that’s going to coat your throat. Be it milk or tea with
tons of honey, your throat won’t phlegm up until there’s enough moisture to do so. Give it a shot.
5) Lastly, though it hurts, the earlier you wake up the better. Here’s my personal formula for a 170lb male.
1-4 Drinks: Suck it up! If you’re hungover after 1-4 drinks, take a few weekends and build your tolerance. If you’re going
to be a professional singer and still want to have a social life, you’ll need at least this much tolerance. Wake up with
enough time that it normally takes to be warmed up, and you’re ready to go.
5-9 Drinks: You probably had an alright night, so be sure to give yourself an extra 20 minutes to warm up those cords.
Slowly yet surely is the key. Don’t be in a rush to hit notes above the upper passagio or you’ll just wear out your weary
cords.
10-12 Drinks: OK, champ, you’ll need an extra half hour to forty minutes, because you’re probably feeling like hell.
Remember to always keep a stock of barf bags for these special moments.
13-15 Drinks: Hellz yeah! You are awesome. If you aren’t checked into a hospital now, then go straight to rehearsal.
You need no time in warming up because you’re probably still drunk. Congratulations.
So there you have it. My last tid bit of information for all hungover heroes is to make sure you place your sound as
forward as possible. Your muscles are dehydrated and shot, so put that placement towards the mask and keep your
throat out of the way. The vocal color may not be there, but the notes will. You’ll do great. So just remember that if
you’ve been drinking, it’s going to take a bit longer than normal to get yourself warmed up. Coincidentally enough,
I’ve just pushed through my second liter of beer and will take it into account tonight as I am singing to myself.
Call Me, Ismael
