The Canticle Singers Attendance Philisophy

Just want to share this with all you, the Attendance Philosophy of The Canticle singers.

ATTENDANCE PHILOSOPHY

what this involves

In order to maintain a high standard of performance, our steadfast commitment and demonstration of unity, we expect our members to be at all rehearsals and concerts, ready to sing. The practical implications of this philosophy: if you must miss any part of a rehearsal, you must call (not email) our Assistant Music Director at least 24 hours before the rehearsal is scheduled to begin; explaining why you must miss the rehearsal.

It is difficult to differentiate between "excused" and "unexcused" absences. Regardless of the reason, when someone misses rehearsal, he hurts himself and the entire group. Remember that in a chorus it is not a matter of you smugly rehearsing on your own at home and confidently and being able to sing it alone but there is a critical need to be singing with your fellow singers, you need to work with and blend with them and vice versa.

Some points to be noted:

• PRACTICE and learn your notes, lyrics, rhythms, etc at home, on your own time! Rehearsal time is precious and limited and designed to pull together each and every member to finalize a performance.

• BE ON TIME for rehearsals. Rehearsals will be scheduled regularly and if a member is unable to attend, he/she must sufficient notice so that where possible other members of the group can be informed and a time rescheduled to meet. Missing rehearsals constitutes a lack of commitment and a letter of notice will be sent to re-confirm member commitment.

• If you are SICK but not bedridden, nor suffering from a highly infectious condition, come to rehearsal anyway. If you do not feel well enough to sing with us, feel free to sit and just listen and take notes so that you will be fully aware of any working changes that are being made. Having no voice is not an excuse to miss a rehearsal.

• The ubiquitous birthday or wedding or family DINNER FUNCTION, etc is far too common an excuse in our Asian society and if you were to assume that each member in a vocal ensemble of say twelve people and each of them were to be absent at twelve different rehearsals for say for various dinner functions, that would result in twelve different rehearsals where the vocal ensemble would be incomplete. Hence if you have such an event arising that will clash with a scheduled rehearsal; arrange to visit the host much earlier, spend some quality time with him/her and extend your good wishes and perhaps a gift and explaining that you have a scheduled rehearsal on. Seriously, even if you were to attend such a function, when there are so many other people clamouring around and demanding the attention of your host, do you honestly think that you will enjoy any quality time with your host?

If ABSENCES BECOME A PROBLEM for a particular individual, the Music Director and/or Artistic Director will ask to speak with that person. In general, if someone misses more than one rehearsals in the immediate period leading up to a musical production, he jeopardizes his participation in and the quality of that production.

If you have any questions about attendance, or if you foresee any potential conflicts in the future, please come and let us know about them way in advance.

From The Canticle Singers website.