Conversations With Ananda — Ch. 72, Gitanjali Gregorelli

Gitanjali GregorelliGitanjali serves as the main choir director in the music ministry at Ananda Europa in Assisi, Italy. She also assists Mantrini and Kirtani in directing a beginner’s choir. (Photo: 2000s)

Q: Did you have an early background in music?

Gitanjali: I sang in choirs in junior and senior high school, and I studied piano for a year – just enough to be able to pick up the harmonium and play the starting notes for our choir, but that’s about it. Most of my experience has been with Swamiji’s music, and it’s been amazing to find that I never, ever get tired of it, even though I started singing forty-one years ago, in 1978. It’s always fresh and new for me, every time.

I was living in Colorado where we had a little group that was beginning to learn some of the music, and then I moved to the Ananda House in San Francisco and sang in a group with Ram and Dianna. And when I moved to the Village, Jeannie got me involved with the choir. So I’ve always been singing.

During the last winter that I lived at Ananda Village, our director went on tour with the Oratorio, so the Village choir needed a leader, and I took over at Christmastime. That was in 1988, and it was my first experience not only of directing the choir but of organizing the Christmas events, including the smaller groups, so I got thrown in at the deep end, but it was a wonderful experience and very inspiring.

Then I was invited to move to Italy because they were starting a choir and they needed singers, and I sang in that choir for about a year. When the director went back to the U.S. I took it over, and for the last fifteen years I’ve directed the choir continuously. I think I may be one of the longest-running choir directors in the Ananda world.

When Claudio and I moved to India, Kirtani and Mantrini took over the music here, and I directed a choir in India until Dharmini took it over, and of course I was always singing. Then after we’d been back in Assisi for about a year, Mantrini had a baby and Kirtani had become the center’s spiritual director, so they no longer had time, and I became the director again.

Q: How is it different directing in Italy than in the U.S. or India?

Gitanjali: We have an international choir and we sing in Italian and English. I think the main difference is that we sing more often – we have a rehearsal every week, and we sing at guest orientations on Friday evenings and again on Sunday evening, and we actually do a full concert on Thursday evening.

Lots of people have mentioned what a beautiful sound the choir has – even Swamiji mentioned it – and I think it’s probably for two reasons. One is that so many of us have been singing together for at least thirty years, and we sing three or four times a week without fail, year-round, so there’s a harmony and attunement among the choir members. And also, singing so much, people learn the parts really well so they’re able to more or less forget the technical side and tune into the inspiration of the piecess.

Q: Has your understanding of your role as a music director evolved?

Gitanjali: Definitely. I see an important part of my role as helping the choir keep their inspiration high. I always try to go deep into the meaning of the songs and communicate it as best I can.

It’s made a big difference for me personally, because every time I meditate on what a song means I learn something new.

We just sang the second half of the Oratorio for Easter, and we’ve sung those songs a million times, but I tried to tune into the music more deeply than ever. For example, with the song “You Remain Our Friend” I asked what was happening in that moment – what was Swamiji trying to transmit, or better, what was he feeling that he was trying to express? And what was he feeling from his inner communion with Christ? It’s been an inspiring practice for me, and I think it helps keep the songs alive for the singers.

I’ve had to think creatively about arrangements, and how to use the musicians in the best way. The creative side has been trying to tune into the inspiration Swami had when he wrote a song, and feeling what the song is trying to transmit, then drawing that inner meaning out of the choir as I work with them.

Q: Are there any special methods you use? David Eby does certain exercises with the singers. The group will sing a passage, and then they’ll be silent before they sing it again, and they find the inspiration growing.

Gitanjali: I haven’t done that, but I talk to them. Many of the people in the choir are Italian, and I’m always helping them understand what the song means in English. I’ve made a compilation of Italian translations of most of the music, not for singing because the translations aren’t all singable, but as poetry so they can read it and tune into the meaning.

Before we sing I try to communicate what I feel is the message of the song. I may have them sing it and then I’ll talk and share what I’m feeling from the song, and we’ll sing it again. And there’s always a difference – it’s deeper, and I can see in their faces that they’re feeling it more.

If we’re singing “You Remain Our Friend,” I’ll suggest that it’s about the crucifixion, and of course it’s a serious moment in the story, but there’s an undercurrent of hope and joy that we want to transmit with the music. And devotion, because the point is that “long we feared to face his love,” but now we’re at last able to give him our hearts.

Q: Is it tricky to help people feel something that has to come naturally from inside?

Gitanjali: It is, but understanding the context of the song can help it be fresh. We sing “You Remain Our Friend,” every week in the Festival of Light and often in concerts, and it takes raising our energy and looking for the inspiration of the song, especially if you’ve sung it many times.

We’re a bit limited in that there are only so many songs that have been translated into Italian, and we always have to sing those because our audience is mainly Italian. But then I try to bring in more songs in English to keep it interesting for them. We recently started doing “Mañana, Friends” and people love it even though they don’t understand the words.

We’ll often read the text in Italian before we sing. Swamiji recommended that we generally not say too much in our concerts but let the music speak for itself. I agree, but if we briefly read the song it’s usually more enjoyable for the Italians and they can get more of the message.

Q: Are new people coming in as well?

Gitanjali: Yes. Uma and Mantrini lead a training choir where they meet once a week with people who want to learn the music. I’ve posted recordings of the parts online as an aid, and I’ll usually let the new people know they can come to rehearsals and listen. Once they’ve begun to learn the music I’ll let them sing along at rehearsals as best they can, but I don’t invite them to sing in concerts until I feel they really know the parts.

Gitanjali Gregorelli

Swami said years ago that he would like to see everybody in the community sing this music. I very much agree, because it’s been important for people’s spiritual lives. It helps us get in tune with the teachings, because it’s all there in the music, and because it’s music and not just words, it touches people on a level of the heart.

I’m fairly lax – I don’t get on people’s case if they don’t make it to rehearsals. I encourage them to come, but I give them a lot of space. The staff are serving full-time year-round, and being with the guests often from nine in the morning until nine at night, and if they need a break it’s only reasonable to give it to them. It helps people keep their enthusiasm because they aren’t feeling “Oh God, now I have to go to choir practice.” At the same time, I encourage them to come, of course, and if there’s a big concert coming I’ll say, “If you don’t come to rehearsals you won’t be able to sing in the concert this time.” I want people to sing from their own inspiration and not just because it’s a job.

Q: How do you handle rehearsals? I’ve seen various styles. Karen in Palo Alto is fun to watch because she’s very finely attuned to what needs to happen. If there’s a bit of distraction, she knows how to whistle very loudly and get people’s attention.

Gitanjali: I do have an unruly choir, but I don’t get too much on their case. We’re good friends and we love being with one another, but I do ask for a certain amount of concentration.

I don’t talk too much – I try mostly to sing. If I hear something that isn’t working, or if we need to go over a part, we’ll do that, and if we’re preparing for a major concert I’ll spend time going over each song and rekindling their understanding.

I want it to be fun, because it’s so important that they feel the joy in the music. I tease Anand, because he’s one of the biggest troublemakers. [Laughs]

Q: Dambara and I were talking about how you’ll be going along in your daily life, and an issue will come up and you’ll think of a phrase of a song.

Gitanjali: It was his song “Go On Alone” that helped me realize it was time to leave Colorado and move to Ananda Village. One of the lines spoke to me, “Make rich the soil, but once the seed is sown, Seek freedom, don’t linger – go on alone!”

I had helped create a fruit cooperative in Colorado. It was doing well, and I realized the song was speaking to me. I had done what I needed to do – I’d sown the seed and it was time to “seek freedom, don’t linger.”

Q: Do you have suggestions for practicing, for people who want to learn the music, or the experienced singers?

Gitanjali: I never studied voice, so I use the warmups that Swamiji suggested in a talk that he gave on using the voice. Mantrini will occasionally introduce another warmup. She has lots of experience in vocal production, and she’s the primary teacher for people who are just learning to sing and want to develop their voice.

I must have studied voice in a past life, because I’ve never had to work at it, so I might not be the best source of technical advice. As far as learning the music, what helped me most was just listening and singing along to the parts recordings until the song became second nature.

Q: Do you have opportunities to perform outside the community?

Gitanjali: When Swami was here last spring we went out a lot. We sang in Milano and Rome, and many of us went to Spain when he was there. Otherwise we’ll be invited to sing at an event in Assisi now and then. They know who we are, and there’s a peace conference where we’re invited to sing a couple times a year. There’s a Wesac Festival in May, and we’re usually invited – I think it’s a pagan holiday, actually. [Laughs] But it’s well-known – the choir’s not going this year, but we’re sending a kirtan group. So we do go out, and I would like to do more, but most of the choir are on the retreat staff, and if they all went out to sing there’d be nobody to be here with the guests.

When Swamiji is here this summer he’ll have a book launch in Rome or Milan, and we’ll sing for that. He’ll also give a conference at a yoga festival in Rome, and we’ll send at least a group of choir members.

Q: Is the music well received at those events?

Gitanjali: Very much so – People love it. If it’s an Italian environment we’ll sing mostly in Italian, but even when we’ve done the Oratorio in English we’ve gotten a wonderful response. They love this music here.

Q: For people who’ve been singing in the choir for a while, how can they deepen their attunement with the music? You said you’ve been singing since 1978 and you haven’t tired of it. Do you find that you discover new levels of the music, or new facets?

Gitanjali: Yes, and it’s especially so with the Oratorio songs. Asha led an all-day workshop on the Oratorio several years ago, and when we’re preparing to perform the Oratorio I’ll read what she said about the songs, and it helps me understand the message more deeply. I’ve also helped translate the songs into Italian, and of course I have to understand the song to help that way. But I do keep trying to deepen my own understanding. I don’t know what others are doing, but I can see in their eyes and their faces that they’re feeling inspiration when we sing.

 

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