Cuts
RVA has one high school choir, and I am it's director. The catch is, I had to audition the students, which means I also had to cut some of them. Although I have directed choir in the past, I have never had to cut any students. If a student wanted to be in choir, even if they couldn't hear the notes, they were in choir, and we all figured out how to help them.
I have spent the last three weeks at RVA listening to auditions, asking for advice, listening to auditons again, and a third time, and then a forth time, and aganizing over who to cut and how to balance the group.
Yesterday, was the final auditions and the culmination of the hard task of cutting students. I chose to talk to a few of them in person, which thankfully went well. Others I didn't have the chance to meet so I emailed them, so they would have a personal word as to why they hadn't made it. But, the hardest part was the seniors. Let me explain...There are many philosophies on how to create a choir. I could have just picked the best kids, no matter their age, but even that doesn't work perfectly because notoriously, there are not as many guys who audition, so girls often get cut just to balance the sound. The next philosophy is to pick younger students in order to mold the choir as you want. Finally, there is the philosophy of seniority, and picking older or more experienced students.
I went with a combination. I decided that Seniors should be included because it is their last year in the group. I then picked the students with more experience or natural giftedness. The hard part was that there were seniors that were not as good as some of the younger classmen, but because of the need for balance and age they made it in. I even ended up cutting a 10th grader over the freshman and the seniors, because seniors have seniority, and freshman have three more years to grow. There was more to it, but in the end, it was really hard to cut younger students in order to keep seniors and still be balanced.
In the end, I held to the encouragement that no matter what I do, God's plan is sovereign. To that end, there was a gal I was worried about including because she seemed to have a strong attitude, but in the end was one of the first to be vulnerable. I was warned about another student, because she too has had an attitude in the past, but again, she stepped up and showed joy and leadership. God has already showed me that He knows the whole story and will guide and accomplish what He has. It's so wonderful to see His work so quickly; it is comforting.
Please pray for the students who were cut. Pray that they see the wonderful things God has for them dispite this disappointment.
I have spent the last three weeks at RVA listening to auditions, asking for advice, listening to auditons again, and a third time, and then a forth time, and aganizing over who to cut and how to balance the group.
Yesterday, was the final auditions and the culmination of the hard task of cutting students. I chose to talk to a few of them in person, which thankfully went well. Others I didn't have the chance to meet so I emailed them, so they would have a personal word as to why they hadn't made it. But, the hardest part was the seniors. Let me explain...There are many philosophies on how to create a choir. I could have just picked the best kids, no matter their age, but even that doesn't work perfectly because notoriously, there are not as many guys who audition, so girls often get cut just to balance the sound. The next philosophy is to pick younger students in order to mold the choir as you want. Finally, there is the philosophy of seniority, and picking older or more experienced students.
I went with a combination. I decided that Seniors should be included because it is their last year in the group. I then picked the students with more experience or natural giftedness. The hard part was that there were seniors that were not as good as some of the younger classmen, but because of the need for balance and age they made it in. I even ended up cutting a 10th grader over the freshman and the seniors, because seniors have seniority, and freshman have three more years to grow. There was more to it, but in the end, it was really hard to cut younger students in order to keep seniors and still be balanced.
In the end, I held to the encouragement that no matter what I do, God's plan is sovereign. To that end, there was a gal I was worried about including because she seemed to have a strong attitude, but in the end was one of the first to be vulnerable. I was warned about another student, because she too has had an attitude in the past, but again, she stepped up and showed joy and leadership. God has already showed me that He knows the whole story and will guide and accomplish what He has. It's so wonderful to see His work so quickly; it is comforting.
Please pray for the students who were cut. Pray that they see the wonderful things God has for them dispite this disappointment.
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