Chorister placement: The criteria, procedures, and methods used in placing the chorister within the mixed choral ensemble

Abstract

Choral conductors are continually working to create an overall choral sound or sonority that possesses pristine balance, tone quality, and intonation. My intent was and remains to study the various practices and methods used by collegiate and professional choral conductors in determining placement of individual singers within the choral ensemble. By the term placement, I refer to the actual vocal positioning of the choral musician within the ensemble. In an effort to formulate a body of knowledge on this topic, a selected sampling of collegiate and professional choral conductors throughout the United States were polled. Each conductor was selected to represent the founding American choral schools of singing. Gathering the information by using a written questionnaire, each conductor responded either by written or verbal response, with the option to remain anonymous. Each respondent presented his methodology for placement of the individual chorister and section performing specific types of choral repertoire. This study was two-fold in design: (1) it created a method for placing the individual singers within their section, and (2) it established a criterion for placing each section in a mixed choral ensemble according to the type of repertoire being performed. My intent was to experiment with various methods supplied by the polled conductors for placement, and to illuminate the advantages and disadvantages of each method. By using the collected information, I worked to formulate my own methodology of placement which either reinforced or refuted those previously established placement procedures. A lecture recital was held to further address the criteria, practices, and methodology of the study. In this demonstration, a representative selection from the various types of choral literature revealed those formations that had been found to effectively serve the various types of choral literature. To display the marked difference in the sounds a choir emits using various formations, the most appealing, as well as the least desirable formations, were demonstrated. The goal and objective of this study was to formulate the conclusive findings in a descriptive, informed, and useful manner---providing today's choral conductor with the necessary tools to place the choristers according to their specific repertoire choices.