HCP 31 Kristina Nakagawa on building community within our choir (+during COVID-19)
Kristina Nakagawa, co-founder, and conductor of Resounding Achord, talks about building and maintaining a community in the choir, especially during COVID-19 quarantine. You’ll learn about her journey as a singer, conductor, and how she got to create a choir that supports each other as a family.
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In this episode, you will learn:
- Kristina’s story with choral music
- Her opportunities to accompany and lead in the high school choir
- How important observing her teachers and learning was for her as a conductor
- How being a singer first helped her to be a better conductor
- Being open to trying new ways of conducting just for the sake of exploration
- Being open to recognizing that we don’t know it all and that we can make mistakes
- “It’s ok to be a leader and not know everything.”
- Her journey to realize that choral music was what she wanted to do
- Founding a new choir in California while getting ready to raise a family
- Building community in the choir, especially during COVID-19
- The important questions that they ask each other in Resounding Achord and why
- Using surveys as a way to learn what her choir wants out of the rehearsals during the quarantine
- The importance of the flexibility to not only rehearse but take the time to get to know the people in the choir to build community
- How the choir begins to feel like family and support each other during good and bad times
- How she protects her singer time by being prepared and challenging them to grow and to connect
- The importance of honoring the contribution of the musicians in the ensemble
- The community continues outside of the rehearsal space
- An example from Chorus Austin’s Tenor section leader (Bert) about building community outside of the rehearsal space
- Asking people what they want and being ready to shift on your plan is key to build community
- How this can be applied to build relationships with people outside the choir
Share it with me
- How have you been during COVID 19?
Links mentioned in the show:
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Produced by Carlos Cordero.
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Hugs,
C.
