The selection of a clinician is crucial to the success of the clinic. He should be a person who has had some experience with high school age students. He should also be able to offer something musically that will expand the musical understanding of the choir. He has to have the ability to step in front of a new choir, analyze their performance, identify the problems, know the cause, and have several ideas on how to solve the problem. His choral philosophy should not be radically different than your own. While it is valuable to get new ideas, it is detrimental to have a clinician whose choral ideals are completely opposite to your own.
Not every choral conductor makes a good clinician. Some conductor's personalities do not lend themselves to the openness and warmth that must be present in a clinician. Other conductors are effective with their own students, whom they have in a specific rehearsal situation daily, but are not able to communicate with other choirs in a short period of time.
In the final analysis, much of the success of a clinic will depend on the local director. If he fails to plan properly for the clinic, it may be only fifty percent (or less) as effective as it otherwise would be. In the days leading up
to the clinic, the students must be prepared to respond to a new director and his suggestions. It is a good idea to obtain some information about the clinician so the students will have some idea of his background. If possible, have his picture on a bulletin board in the choral room and some information about the clinician with it. Since students will usually not know as much about the clinician as you do, it is up to the local director to heighten their enthusiasm for the clinic, and discussing the clinician with them will help to do this.
The students must be ready to accept new tempos and possible new interpretations without viewing them as strange and somehow wrong. Young students often assume the tempos or interpretations of their director are the only possible ones for a given piece of music. The director that promotes his own image with his students will find it difficult to free his students from this idolatry and help them to accept the ideas of another conductor. On the other hand, there is no reason that the local director should attempt to sterilize a piece of music and avoid trying to interpret it in order to keep it free for the clinician. Simply go ahead and teach as you would normally teach and try to achieve the best musical result you can achieve. If the clinician finds your interpretation radically different from his, he can quickly comment that he would like to try another interpretation and if the students have the proper attitude, they will probably respond very quickly for him. If the clinician finds the interpretation radically different on one selection, he may not wish to rehearse it but will wait and discuss it in detail with the director. The local director should not be too concerned about the number of things a clinician may find wrong with the choir. He will usually be surprised at the number of points the clinician will make that reinforce his own teaching. These are often as valuable as new points because they confirm his teaching and increase the students' confidence in him. It is always good for the students to hear from an "expert" some of the same things a director has said. They tend to listen more carefully to the statements made by a clinician, particularly from somebody that is new to them.
In the days that follow the clinic, the local director can pursue the points established by the clinician. After the session between the director and clinician, the director should spend several hours carefully examining all the music and the comments made by the clinician. A clinician often will demonstrate a phrase several different ways with a choir to illustrate to the choir and to the director that there are several possible and valid interpretations. When it is possible to record the clinic sessions, a director will find this study tapes quite valuable. He may then study the different interpretations a clinician may use and determine the one that seems to get the best musical sound from the choir.
In some instances it may be desirable to sponsor a choral clinic and invite neighboring schools to participate. This can stimulate more choral activity in the area and improve the quality of all the groups.
It can also be valuable to bring in a fellow choral director to listen to your choir for the purpose of evaluation. This can be done at any time or several times over the year. Obviously, it is best to have someone in after the singers are comfortable with the music and an evaluation can be substantive regarding the performance of the music. You may be able to reciprocate with that director and his choir. Sometimes a particular work may not be going well and another person might be helpful in pinpointing the problems and suggesting solutions.
It is apparent that the value from a clinic is only obtained by solid groundwork laid by the director, stimulating sessions between the students and
clinician, and careful follow-up to the clinic itself. It must also be remembered that a clinic is not a cure-all for poor teaching. Although the choir may temporarily respond to a good clinician, they will soon revert to their previous level of performance if they are not sufficiently motivated or properly led. A clinic should not be used as a device to prepare the choir for a choral contest. Most directors that attempt to do this, bring a clinician in far too late and expect him to make it possible for the ensemble to receive a superior rating. In short, a clinic should not be used except as an integral part of the complete year's activities. It is one of several means of supplementing the choral program and adding another dimension to the choral education of the students.