The volunteer singer brings a unique enthusiasm to succeed beyond what they believe they are capable of. With effective leadership through empathy and empowerment, the choral director can provide tools and strategies to improve what singers bring to the ensemble. By empowering their members, directors can attract and retain youthful singers while enriching aged singers with continuing education. Keeping volunteer singers fresh allows them to achieve at a continually growing artistic level. This session outlines and explores elements of success that lead to a Grammy win for the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus. This session will break down into four topics. Topic one – Empathetic Leadership – explores elements of authentic leadership. With a goal to get all singers invested to challenge themselves at their own level and pace, the conductor can employ certain strategies to build a team of diverse voices that supports the distinctive growth of individuals. Topic two – Empower Accountability – lays out how to set the table for individual growth. The conductor communicates universal accountability for all singers to promote investment in the process for individual growth to achieve a collective outcome. The third topic – Empower Expectations – provides a roadmap to achieve artistic goals. The conductor lays the groundwork by giving specific musical and informational material so that singer’s can self regulate and monitor their individual development within and through the rehearsal process. The final topic – Empower Efficiency – offers rehearsal techniques that reinforce individual learning for volunteer singers given scheduling time constraints. When working with volunteer singers it is paramount to cultivate an environment where they can find personal growth as singers, musicians, and choristers. When singers are empowered to apply their strengths and improve their weaknesses, we can attract and excite younger singers, retain committed members, and renew the gifts of aging singers. By the conclusion of this session, attendees will have learned how to empower volunteer singers through: 1) Leading authentically with empathy, 2) Communicating what singers are accountable for individually 3) Creating a roadmap for singers to the ensemble goals, and 4) Working smarter with the individual singer in mind.
Multigenerational Choral Excellence: Lead, Empower, Achieve
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Adam Luebke
Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus
Adam Luebke was appointed Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus in 2015. He is the winner of the 2020 GRAMMY® for Best Choral Performance and critics have described his choruses as “splendid” (Gramophone), “excellent” (Musical America), and “articulate, unified and vividly expressive” (Chautauqua Daily). He has conducted at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Chautauqua Institution, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and worked with Wynton Marsalis, JoAnn Falletta, Gil Rose, Richard Danielpour, Paul Moravec, Angela Brown, and Liz Calloway. Luebke received his musical training at the American Boychoir School, St. Olaf College, Westminster Choir College, and Florida State University.
