Guerilla Concerts

Singing is an anywhere, anytime activity in many parts of the world. There, it's not something you go to—it's something you are. What if we took music out into the world rather than always asking people to come to it? One ensemble endeavors to do just that by taking choral music to the most unlikely places.

Voces Novae, the chamber chorus I conduct in Bloomington, Indiana, makes a practice of performing in strange and wonderful places. We've been in stone mills, warehouses, wine bars, and gardens. Some are conducive to choral singing, others—not so much. But the point of these performances is not to experience perfect acoustics or comfy logistics. The point is to take our music out into the world rather than always asking people to come to us.

Part of the inspiration for what we call our guerrilla concerts" comes from what I have observed in other cultures. I've been struck by how alive and present choral music is in everyday life. It's not something you go to—it's something you are.

A while back a Romanian man who worked at our local co-op died suddenly while taking the trash out to the dumpster. That night his Romanian friends and family went to the co-op parking lot, cleaned and scoured the dumpster enclosure, burned incense, and sanctified the space. And then they stood there all night long, singing.

A few years ago a men's choir from Tblisi, Georgia, visited Bloomington, and I was in charge of shepherding them around. Despite the fact that they were performing at least once a day on their long tour, these men sang all the time: after every meal, or as they walked from one place to another, or in a bar late at night—someone would start a song and they would all join in with bright, lusty, loud, resonant singing. They taught me some of the songs by ear, so I sang along. We stopped traffic and conversation everywhere we went.

Last summer, my family traveled to Tanzania. Every place we visited, we were greeted with singing and clapping. We visited a women's cooperative, where the workers sang as they pounded coffee and made cheese. On a solitary ramble through one town, I heard people singing in many houses and yards I passed. A resident told me that there was a regional competition coming up and families and groups of students were preparing their auditions.

While I never want to give up hearing or performing Bach's B Minor Mass in a concert setting, I would like more often to tap into the choral life force represented by these other experiences.

A few years ago Voces Novae was preparing a program about the labor leader and early 20th-century presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs. I attended a labor rally so I could get to know the labor community in Bloomington. There was a lot of shouting and colorful signage, but really, what they needed were some good songs! In our concert, we interspersed excerpts from Debs' speeches with verses of "Solidarity Forever" and the audience was encouraged to sing along. It was very moving when, during the last verse, the audience members, singing their hearts out, began to stand up one by one.

Voces Novae singing in parking garage

One recent rainy afternoon, Voces Novae sang in the parking garage of the local hospital, taking advantage of the fantastic acoustics there. A few of our most loyal fans stood among the cars to listen, but mostly we sang for the hospital staff and visitors walking by.

The next night at rehearsal the choir was markedly energized by the experience. They felt they had really communicated. A doctor who stopped to listen told me afterward that everyone who passed by was tired or anxious—nurses coming off shifts, people visiting loved ones, or patients going in for tests—and they were treated to a moment of grace, a random act of beauty. The choir, dressed in jeans and standing among cigarette butts, sang as beautifully as they ever have. The local newspaper's weekly editorial round-up led with the headline, "More garage concerts!"

We will continue to look for opportunities to bring unexpected beauty to the everyday lives of the people in our community. With any luck, more of them will then be inclined to attend a performance of the B Minor Mass when they get the chance.


This article is adapted from The Voice, Spring 2010.