Musical Resolutions, or Practice Makes Perfect

I think we can all agree it’s been quite a turbulent year, and as we hurtle towards 2025, how can we maintain a measure of control over our lives? Well, one classic way is to make New Year’s resolutions. This morning, I saw a little cartoon on Facebook that had a few helpful suggestions: stop scrolling (yup); clean out the closets (sigh); see more sunrises (good idea); dance more (ta dah); read more books (check); sing more often and louder...Yeah, that’s the one! That’s my resolution for 2025: I’ll stay sane by singing every day.   

I resolve to practice singing. No excuses, no worries that the neighbors will hear me, or that people walking their dogs in the street will laugh. No arguing that I’m too old to audition for the Met. And even as I write this, negativity sets in. Who cares, why bother? I mean, if I chuck the holiday cookies and hang out at the gym, I’ll get visible results. Not so with practicing singing. If I read a 600-page tome on political history, I can bore everyone with my insights on the last 20 years of Congressional shenanigans. If I clean out my closets, I can go right back to Amazon and fill them back up again. If I see more sunrises, I’ll have the time to clean out the closets. But practice singing every day? What’s the point?  

Well, here’s my inspiration. I recently attended a Christmas concert by the Washington Master Chorale at the historic Church of the Epiphany in downtown D.C. It was a splendid a capella program that featured compositions new and old celebrating the beauty of the season. At the end of the concert, the lights in the church were extinguished, and the choir emerged in a candlelight procession as Maestro Thomas Colohan turned to the audience. He directed us in Silent Night, the sound swelling, tender at times, glorious and joyful at others, and somehow, I remembered the words of all the verses as I joined in. It was magic. Here was the so-called spirit of Christmas, the best gift of all. And that’s when I decided I needed to sing next year, no matter what chaos the world throws at us.  

Even Artificial Intelligence can tell us why singing is good for us: it stimulates mental and physical health, is good for the brain and the immune system, not to mention the vagus nerve (I’m not making this up) and of course there are social and intellectual advantages as well. But to me the ultimate benefit is that sometimes when I reach a certain note, or nail a difficult aria, I can briefly recapture that sense of magic, of connection with something deep inside, the joy of being alive...even when the neighbor’s dog starts to howl in harmony with me. 

I was curious about how music resonated with friends and colleagues and asked a few of them about their own musical resolutions. Our own Rich Kleinfeld, tenor saxophonist and a founding member of the Washington Saxophone Quartet, rattled off a long list of resolutions both practical and philosophical. Among them, 

1. Making it to 50. The quartet was founded in 1976 and will soon celebrate its 50th season—talk about a milestone! 

2. Helping a young composer  

3. Learning to simply listen and enjoy music, without the critical ears of a pro. 4. Keep playing. It’s what keeps one young. 

Keith and Vince in WETA’s Engineering and Technology department both planned to practice more and better (with a metronome!) Wes, Senior Digital Platform Manager, said he wanted to work to get more gigs for his band. And Zenas Kim-Banther, trombonist and WETA Classical’s Assistant Program Director had a good one: she wanted to listen to more new music. Richard, my voice teacher who still practices what he learned in his lessons with Nadia Boulanger, said he was going to continue to search for new insights and revel in the joy of performing, teaching and playing each day. 

Do you have a musical resolution for 2025? Maybe it’s taking lessons, or singing in a choir, or enjoying our area’s rich concert life, mentoring a young musician, forcing your kids to practice 😀 and (we hope) listening to WETA Classical. Happy new year!