Little point: IIWY, I would reword the title of the post as "When and How..." because your point about phrase boundaries isn't an answer to "How".
I will say that I also dislike clapping... It's so jarring.
However, I do not feel I can fully agree that making sound while they are singing is inherently rude. By selecting you as the director, the chorus has told you that they've given a semblance of trust, that they know you have their best interests at heart. If I have a friend about to walk into a street, and I yell at them and order them to stop, I am not being rude, and if I am, I will take that over my friend dying; there are times in life worth ruffling a feather. In another comparison, sports coaches tend to make a lot of noise while their team is playing... And I've never heard anyone claim this was disrespectful. There is urgency involved in their work, and there is in ours, too.
To this end, I will say that I have had a lot of success using the word "pause". This appears to serve most of your concerns.
I like "pause" because it is a sound they can always interpret to mean the same thing. They should be trained to watch me, but it also doesn't hurt them to be trained to hear me, too. I love the idea of developing a consistent pause gesture (I definitely will try it and I have seen a symphony conductor who used setting his baton down for this very purpose), but as you mentioned there is absolutely that stage of music reading in many ensembles... If their vision (or lack thereof) precludes them seeing a stop gesture, a pause word can be useful... And I'm sure we would agree that stopping verbally is preferable if an ensemble had many visually impaired people. Though, arguing against myself, a sighted person could stand next to the impaired person and grab their elbow when the gesture is given. Still, the director could preclude this person risking singing after the stop by using a word instead of a gesture.
I know this is just semantics, but I absolutely counter that what you're talking about is a pause gesture and not a stop gesture.
Good stuff for all of us to think about! I love the phrase-boundary idea! I will be deliberate with this in the future because I am sure that there were times where I only did it on accident. :)
Good takes.
Little point: IIWY, I would reword the title of the post as "When and How..." because your point about phrase boundaries isn't an answer to "How".
I will say that I also dislike clapping... It's so jarring.
However, I do not feel I can fully agree that making sound while they are singing is inherently rude. By selecting you as the director, the chorus has told you that they've given a semblance of trust, that they know you have their best interests at heart. If I have a friend about to walk into a street, and I yell at them and order them to stop, I am not being rude, and if I am, I will take that over my friend dying; there are times in life worth ruffling a feather. In another comparison, sports coaches tend to make a lot of noise while their team is playing... And I've never heard anyone claim this was disrespectful. There is urgency involved in their work, and there is in ours, too.
To this end, I will say that I have had a lot of success using the word "pause". This appears to serve most of your concerns.
I like "pause" because it is a sound they can always interpret to mean the same thing. They should be trained to watch me, but it also doesn't hurt them to be trained to hear me, too. I love the idea of developing a consistent pause gesture (I definitely will try it and I have seen a symphony conductor who used setting his baton down for this very purpose), but as you mentioned there is absolutely that stage of music reading in many ensembles... If their vision (or lack thereof) precludes them seeing a stop gesture, a pause word can be useful... And I'm sure we would agree that stopping verbally is preferable if an ensemble had many visually impaired people. Though, arguing against myself, a sighted person could stand next to the impaired person and grab their elbow when the gesture is given. Still, the director could preclude this person risking singing after the stop by using a word instead of a gesture.
I know this is just semantics, but I absolutely counter that what you're talking about is a pause gesture and not a stop gesture.
Good stuff for all of us to think about! I love the phrase-boundary idea! I will be deliberate with this in the future because I am sure that there were times where I only did it on accident. :)