Siskiyou Singers

Director Dave Marston

The Siskiyou Singers provide our community with a rare opportunity to see and hear more than a hundred people shine in a different way than they do in their everyday lives.

Sporting the likes of some of our finest workers and retired people, the chorus bands together every Tuesday night to learn and study the great works of choral literature. Where else can you see a computer programmer sing a 16th Century motet or an Oregon lab technician sing a sacred work from France or a retired school teacher who never had a chance to learn a great work of Mozart?

It takes a community choir to make this happen. The result is the enrichment of each singer and, in turn, our audience and community. It is an extremely valuable and noble endeavor, one worthy of the utmost support of everyone. So come cheer us on as we offer some of the most beautiful and time-tested works of history, the true treasures of a society yearning to express its loftiest ideals through music.

FROM THE CONDUCTOR'S VIEWPOINT

One of the issues that singers must deal with from time to time is that of "Should I sing words that I don't believe?" It actually comes up quite often. Let's face it, many people in the community are not Christians and even among those that are, there are many that have difficulty with texts such as the one in Mendelssohn's Elijah.

Lines like, "For he, the lord our God, he is a jealous God." make many squirm. They reason 'This is the same kind of religious fervor that starts wars and tries to oppress those who don't believe the same way.' Similarly, the Christmas carol The First Noel contains the dubious line, to some; "If we in our time shall do well, we shall free from death and hell." Some people have determined that they cannot sing these words.

Sometime it makes me want to hang up a disclaimer sign over the entrance door which reads "The views expressed on stage are not necessarily the views of all performers."

The result, of course, is that they never have the opportunity to sing, or even listen to, many of the great choral masterpieces of all time. Ours would be a much poorer world without Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requium and Mendelssohn'sElijah, to name a few. These are not merely church works; they are great concert works.

As a musician, I deplore the fact that schools have often become so secularized--a necessary and important trend in some ways--that they have lost touch with many great works of art throughout history, whether musical or otherwise. There is immense value in standing in awe of the religious works of Da Vinci and Michaelangelo. It is simply one of the most uplifting experiences known to man.

It is also very inspiring to me when someone in our choir sings a text from a sacred tradition that is different from his or her own. I admire it: it requires a very open-minded view of the world to be able to do that. It implies a willingness to recognize someone else's belief of what is the highest form of good and not only tolerate, but embrace it. It goes beyond saying, 'It's OK to worship as you wish,' but actually says, "I will embrace your tradition by casting it in the most beautiful and artistic light possible."

I loved it when our choir performed many Hanukkah pieces in our December concert a couple of years ago. It was a great way to learn how to walk in a Jewish person's shoes. When you think about it, the world would be a lot more peaceful place if we could sing someone else's sacred music.

You don't have to believe it- you just have to show honor for it. It's also a great way of getting outside ourselves. If we restrict ourselves to only things we believe, we build a very narrow world. Opening up to someone else's tradition can expose us to many treasures.

So here's to those singing non-believers: may they continue to bring beauty to the world through their music and enlightened view.

_ Dave Marston 12/04

Siskiyou Singers
P.O. Box 3041
Ashland, OR 97520

TEL: 541-482-5290
E-mail: Siskiyousingers@aol.com