Sometimes it might be necessary to scale down the size of a choir slightly for a particular performance, because of the music being performed or the venue. The thoughts in this post result from reflections on one occasion when a choir (now not in existence) did this. It wasn’t handled very well; five singers (from about 35) were left out of one concert, and along with it denied the chance to appear in a choir photo which was then used in publicity for some years afterwards. They weren’t given a reason or indeed even told that they weren’t singing (just not sent the music), and all of them left the choir within the next year or so.
Ideally, you want an approach that will:
a) result in a good performance
b) not cause singers to leave the choir or resent being left out. (Unless you would rather the omitted singers left – but in that case what are they doing in the choir at all?)
So how to do it?
Leave out the least capable singers. This is what you will be assumed to be doing, unless you indicate otherwise. It will achieve a), but you must be prepared to lose the omitted singers. And it must be done using this as the only criterion for omission, or it will look like favouritism.
Leave out the people who have joined the choir most recently. This will leave people who are most used to working as a group, but the omitted singers will be the ones whose loyalty to the choir is weakest, so you are more likely to lose them.
Leave out those who have missed most rehearsals for recent concerts. This may lose some good singers, and if the choir is strict about attendance, there may still be decisions to be made about who to leave out. But it is fair, and an incentive to attendance!
Leave out those who haven’t done extra service for the choir. E.g. those who haven’t been on the committee or sold lots of tickets. This may inadvertently penalise those who’ve joined recently (see above) or who have genuine reasons for not being able to do much beyond attending rehearsals, such as being a carer or having to travel a long distance; these may actually be among the most dedicated members of the choir. And it’s not necessarily good from the point of view of a).
Leave out those who will mind least. Oh dear! How do you know who these are? Unless you have people who have said to you that they don’t want to sing every concert, don’t try this. Apart from anything else, if it’s suspected that you omit the meek, it will encourage choir members to be bolshy.
Choose who to leave out by drawing lots. This is fairest, but needs a good choir where no singers are indispensible. Again, if you do this, tell the choir you are doing it and why. Risks a) but avoids b) completely.
Who is not available? No point in leaving anyone out if some are not free to do the concert anyway. But the singers themselves must confirm availability. Don’t assume they are not free because (say) you have heard from someone else that they are making a trip abroad during the rehearsal period.
Do you have to reduce numbers at all? Is it worth hurting some people to achieve precisely the right sound? Or to put it another way, will having a few more singers than the ideal number really wreck the concert?
Should everyone sing everything in the concert? If the concert contains more than one piece, why not use some singers in just one part or the other? This spreads the burden of omission more widely, instead of laying it on only a few, and everyone can be included in at least part of the performance. If some don’t like this, they can deselect themselves.
If there’s no alternative to leaving people out, minimise the amount they are left out from. Do not attach anything such as a choir photo or a party to the concert, from which the omitted singers will also be excluded. It might also help to do something else to retain the loyalty of the people who have been left out. Tell them apologetically that they won’t be singing in the concert – don’t leave it for them to work it out for themselves – and consider using them in some other way, such as doing an item with a smaller group in a future concert and including them in that group.