Sunday, November 24, 2013

A Sense of Play





Every group has their own energy. The exciting thing is discovering what is at the core of each group. I've deduced what it is about the Edmonton Opera Chorus that makes it such a unique group for me: the sense of play.


It was something I began to notice throughout the rehearsal process, and it was confirmed during the Salute to 50 years Chorus Concert on Saturday. For me, the play aspect is hard to fully embrace. I find it hard to ease off and simply enjoy.

I love a musical challenge. I enjoy the stress and satisfaction cycle of learning hard works.  But on Saturday night, the energy of those around me was infectious. Humorous glances cast towards the male chorus as they sang about being sober men in Sir Joseph's Barge from HMS Pinafore and the seductive sways and tambourine hits during Carmen's Gypsy Chorus from the ladies. It just felt comfortable and organic to play up the song within a chorus full of characters.



It is always good to take a step back and reevaluate why you are singing in a particular group. For some, it may be increasing musicianship skills, for others, it may be the paycheck. For me, singing with the Opera Chorus is a personal reminder to not take myself so gosh darn seriously. It's like taking a massive handful of colourful characters and loading them into a confetti launcher. One cannot predict where certain colours will fall or when it will go off. Instead of worrying about the clean-up, which I would normally do, I just learned to enjoy the show.

(All photos from Christina O)