Experience with Groeispurt: Musica Choralis Foundation - Steinberg's Holy Week

Maximilian Steinberg (Vilnius, 1883) was the musical prodigy of his time: a protégé of Rimsky-Korsakov, a rival of Stravinsky, and later a teacher of Shostakovich. On November 15, 1923, he completed a masterful choral work, knowing that it could not be performed because religious music had just been banned. Exactly one hundred years later, Musica Choralis, under the direction of conductor Leenke de Lege, organized the Dutch premiere of Steinberg’s *Stille week* under the title “De Verboden Passie” (The Forbidden Passion). This project Groeispurt made possible in part by a grant from Groeispurt . Leenke de Lege and Bas Cornelissen tell us more about the process and their experience with Groeispurt.

What is the project about?

Musica Choralis’s goal was to present the Dutch premiere of Maximilian Steinberg’s *Stille week*. That goal was successfully achieved! *Stille week* was performed alongside the piece *Diptychon* by the Ukrainian composer, which added further depth to the program. In both pieces, intense suffering is palpable, and from this emerges a call for silence and reflection.

This project involved a semi-professional project choir. The professional singers all worked to serve the greater good and actively sought to collaborate with the amateur singers. The collaboration between the amateurs and professionals was of great value and ensured that the concerts were of an excellent standard.

The Process

Even before we finally knew whether the project would go ahead, we put together a choir for the summer. To that end, we put out a call for participants and then selected those interested based on their musical résumés, recommendations, and/or prior experience. Unfortunately, we had to turn down a few singers. We did not organize a full round of auditions, partly because it was not yet certain at that time whether the project would go ahead. This did result in a slightly more heterogeneous choir than would be ideal: all sorts of different voice types and skill levels were mixed together. But for the most part, that was smoothed out during the rehearsal period.

Because it remained uncertain until late whether the project could go ahead, we had to rely heavily on the singers’ flexibility. This was a particular problem for the professionals: some understandably had to prioritize other work, which affected their availability. But even among the amateurs, not everyone was able to attend all the rehearsals

The lesson we learned from this is: start early! Although we began a year in advance, we didn’t know for sure until just two months before the project whether it could definitely go ahead. By that time, some singers were no longer available for all the dates, which didn’t help the rehearsal process. It’s also important to organize a project like this with a slightly larger team of perhaps 4–5 people. This time, the applications and organization fell largely on the shoulders of just 2–3 people, and that’s really pushing it.

Groeispurt Article

Our experience with Groeispurt extremely positive! Compared to other funds, Groeispurt keeps Groeispurt bar relatively low, which was great for emerging creators: with some other grant applications, we sometimes felt like we had to jump through unnecessary hoops that added little to the final project. Moreover, our interactions with Groeispurt very smooth.

About Groeispurt

Groeispurt is a Nijmegen grant program for young creators, artists, and performers. The program encourages new ideas and initiatives and gives young talent an extra boost, without unnecessary restrictions or obligations. It is a flexible and fast way to provide support, encouraging new developments and helping art and culture in Nijmegen continue to flourish.