Some of us may laud Benjamin Franklin for inventing the “double spectacles” because they allow us to read up close and see far away with one pair of glasses. Some of us may curse bifocals as we strain our necks to focus through a tiny square in our glasses and onto the music on our conductor’s stand. Others might grimace at the blurry faces of our choirs as we glance furtively at them over the reading glasses at the end of our noses. Perhaps some of us even grumble under our breath as we frantically search for whichever optical aide we need at the moment; one pair of glasses in a shirt pocket for close reading, a second strung on a chain around the neck for music on the conductor’s stand, and yet a third in the car for driving. What most of us have in common is the change in our eyesight as we age. It’s not just Presbyterians who suffer from presbyopia (from the Greek for “aging eyes”). Most of our eyes suffer some loss in their ability to focus both far and near as we age, most noticeably around the age of forty. As conductors, teachers and church musicians, our eyes are required to perform unusual feats that aging bedevils.
After two posts to Choralist, and an interview with an expert in monovision, Dr. Gina Sclafani of Freehold Family Eye Care, the most emphatic advice I received in emails from conductors and keyboard players was for monovision contact lenses or bifocal contact lenses. Many people expressed frustration with glasses of any kind. The best thing to do is explore all of the options available, keeping an open mind and a determined spirit.
Of the many options for corrective lenses available to us, some work better for shifting our focus from music stand to choir to keyboard. Some of the options are classic bifocals, progressive lenses, trifocals, bifocal contact lenses, monovision contact lenses, computer glasses, Lasik surgery, and various combinations of these. Of utmost importance is finding an eye care practitioner we can trust, who will meet with us as much as necessary, and who is willing to experiment with us. When you go to your eye doctor take a music stand with you, show them exactly how far away the music is as you read it, measure the distance between your eyes and the music rack on the piano or organ, and fully explain the rapid changes in your focus from music to choir to hands and back to music.
Classic bifocals: These are the glasses with the small segment at the bottom for reading up close. Most conductors who use these have to get a special pair with the bottom portion adjusted for conducting and playing a keyboard, as well as a regular pair for reading books. Many conductors end up using reading glasses perched on the end of the nose and look at the choir above the glasses altogether. Many keyboard players express difficulty at seeing the music through the limited area of focus that this type of glasses affords, and frustration at trying to play a keyboard and see their hands. Jeff Rehbach, conductor of the Middlebury College Community Chorus says:
As my near-sighted eyes changed in my late forties, I moved to “varilux” lenses – the top part to correct for near-sightedness, the lower part for close-up reading. However, I couldn’t find a way with a single lens to also provide for the right distance for conducting, reading from a music stand (and, for extended work at a computer). So, I ended up with a second set of glasses specifically for seeing at about twenty-four to twenty-eight inches and that’s worked well. Since aging eyes can take longer to focus, adding extra light on the music helps as well.
Trifocal lenses: These are like bifocals, but with an additional layer for intermediate distance reading in between the distance and the reading layers. Just make sure that this intermediate layer focuses clearly on the music at its correct distance. Kathy Bowers, a conductor from St. Louis, has this to say:
I’m a glasses person — haven’t worn contacts for years and years. I need glasses to cover up the bags under my eyes! I wear blended trifocals and they work well for me. I use glasses for everything! Conducting, playing, computer work, reading, distance… Now that smaller frames are popular, the three fields are smaller, so once in a while it’s hard to position one’s head in the best position to read whatever, but I find that to be a minimal issue. I go to an optometrist who is also a professional harpsichord player. It really helps to have a doctor who understands what your needs are as a conductor.
Computer glasses are a special kind of lens with a larger area devoted to intermediate distance reading. Charles Peery, a conductor from St. Louis, offers this advice:
I got computer glasses. Normally I wear progressive lens bifocals. The proposal came not from my eye doctor, who seemed really reluctant to deal with any of this. But I was describing my issues to the guy at Lenscrafters, and he said “Oh! You just need computer glasses. Focal distance about an arm’s length. We just do a calculation on your distance vision prescription, it’s a standard formula.” So I had them make me a pair and got the cheapest frames that weren’t ugly. They work! They are the same over the whole lens, which allows me to see, say, four pages spread across the organ music desk. Whatever’s on the music stand if I’m just conducting. They are remarkably forgiving. I can see the music quite well and the choir well. I have to admit, if I have to see all the way to the back of the church that doesn’t work so well.
Progressive lenses: This type of glasses eliminates the line between the different focus areas of the classic bifocal lens, and “progresses” from one focus area to the next. Many conductors and keyboard players found the size of the focus area insufficient for reading music.
Monovision contact lenses: The lens in one eye focuses on distance, the lens in the other eye focuses on close reading distance. The brain learns to use the eye it needs to focus on whatever you are looking at, and more or less ignores the other eye. Some people adapt to this very well after about a week or two. Other people have trouble adjusting, and after several weeks of headaches, they ask for a different option. As with all of the options for aging eyes, monovision is a compromise. The distance lens cannot be focused too clearly or the brain will not be able to adapt to this style of lens wearing. But overall, for the musicians for whom this works, it offers the best option.
Monovision Lasik surgery: This procedure actually reshapes the cornea through bladeless surgery. If you opt for monovision Lasik surgery make sure you try monovision contact lenses for long enough beforehand to feel comfortable making such a permanent decision. As with all surgery, there are risks involved. These include loss of vision, trouble with night vision, dry eyes, and the continued need for glasses even after surgery.
Bifocal contact lenses: Like bifocal glasses, these lenses have areas that focus on distance and on close reading. Make sure that they focus at the correct distance for the music. After a year of monovision contact lenses which worked well, I now use bifocal contacts and am even happier with them. I can quickly switch my focus from music stand to choir to hands at the keyboard, and then to the back of the room with no problem. I have much more success reading road signs at night than I did with monovision, but again all of these options are compromises. I like not having frames acting as a barrier in between my eyes and the choir; I find no trouble with limited focus area; there was no adjustment time as there was with monovision. It helps having an eye doctor who is willing to meet me several times, experimenting with different lens combinations until we get it right, and who keeps reminding me to be flexible as my eyes change as they age. My thanks go to Dr. Sclafani.
[December 2009: There are two updates since this article was written. Developments continue to be made with a progressive contact lens that offers a wider range of acuity than the standard bifocal contact lenses that I was wearing in 2007. Dr Sclafani cautioned me, however, that patients seem to have more difficulty adjusting to them. Also, in March of 2008 I was diagnosed with Choroidal Melanoma, a rare cancer of the eye, and am advised not to wear contact lenses because of the increased risk of infection associated with their use. I now wear progressive lens glasses. They are nowhere near as good as the bifocal contacts, but I’m managing. I end up memorizing far more music to conduct than ever before.]
If you find that age is changing the way your eyes focus and would like to explore the various options for vision correction, the most important thing to do is find a good eye doctor who is willing to spend time with you, even if it means several visits and experiments, to meet your needs as a conductor or keyboard player. When an eye care practitioner doesn’t seem to be willing to take a little extra time to experiment or explore different contact lenses so that your eyes can function in your musical endeavors to the best of their ability, find another eye doctor. If contact lenses are available to you, fear them not. Although you may recoil from putting your finger anywhere near your eyeball, remember the first time you encountered something like a clam and think of the immense delight it offers your palate now. Who could live in New Jersey and not enjoy this local delicacy grilled, steamed, or raw? After my first contact lens fitting and a very humorous attempt by the technician to get me to take the lenses out myself, I thought I’d get home and never again get them in or out. Now I can’t imagine trying to conduct, play the piano, drive a car, or read the labels on a vitamin bottle with various sets of frames. May we always use the wisdom of Ben Franklin in caring for our eyes and our choirs.
Steven A. Russell is artistic director of the New Jersey Gay Men’s Chorus, director of sacred music at the Parish of St. Thomas More in Manalapan, New Jersey, and the New Jersey ACDA R&S chair for Community Choruses.
[This article was originally published in the Spring 2007 issue of Canticum Novum: the official newsletter of the New Jersey American Choral Directors Association.]
