Podium Commences

 Greetings readers,

This choir girl has officially landed in the heart of Podium 2012. The first day was a blur: a parliament tour, sound check, choir concert, interview, another choir concert, and welcome reception. As soon as I arrived, it has felt like I've been consumed in a choral-centric whirlpool. Every time I go another round in the swirling vortex there is yet another person I recognize and am excited to greet. This conference is choirtopia. There are so many opportunities to just choir geek-out throughout this conference. One look into the audience and you wonder: “Is that Jeff Enns? the composer of the piece we’re singing?!?!” or “Is that the conductor of the Canadian Chamber Choir!?!?” It’s as if these glances within an audience or during a reception function as choir star-sightings. It feels like all the musical acquaintances that I have slowly compiled have all aggregated en masse this weekend.

Belle Canto's morning began with some lovely historic touring of the East Block of Parliament in the morning followed by lunch in the parliamentary cafeteria with Canadian Senators. Afterwards Belle Canto hurried over to Knox Presbyterian Church to begin the sound check. The church was gorgeous. Reverberant stonewalls containing a cool and comforting atmosphere. We began by singing through our Schumann pieces and communal smiles appeared throughout the choir as we heard the pulsating reverb of our sound. This was going to be a fun acoustic to sing in. After a little bit of physical rearrangement, including my discovery the Belle Canto had introduced some choralography into El Hambo, we were ready for our concert.

When performance time came, there was a comforting sense of calm in our green room. Modestly enough, we didn’t have high expectations for concert attendance. We knew we were the first choir performing at the conference and, oftentimes, there is the unspoken understanding that the first day of the conference is the arrival day. Imagine my general shock when I walked out into Knox Church and it was almost a full-house. The people were so densely packed in the pews that I couldn’t make out individual faces beyond those in the immediate rows and patrons with good window spots. It was also an usual experience for me to perform for so many attentive faces. I wish I had a better vantage point so I could have seen the range of reactions from our audience throughout the performance. Overall, I felt like Belle Canto’s set was secure. There were some unexpected claps and minor word mix-ups, but nothing in a high enough concentration to contaminate the entire performance. The Schumann pieces were executed with rich and romantic singing, our premiere of Enns’ “Vidi Speciosam” resonated with ethereal clarity, and Barber’s “To Be Sung on the Water” had this vulnerable, quiet beauty about the performance. It was also refreshing to end with “El Hambo” and “V’la bon vent” which allowed us to have fun and show the audience that we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

Belle Canto’s performance definitely provided an interesting contrast to the Tartu Ülikooli Akadeemiline Naiskoo's repertoire. At times I felt like my ears were tricking me because I was convinced there were men in their alto section even though I knew it was a female choir. Their alto sound was just so present and perfectly balanced. They sang a wide array of Estonian folk melodies. I think folk melodies are especially powerful because there is something at the core of the music with a sense of resilience. In any culture, there are constant fluctuations within the history but folk melodies are still able to be consistently transferred. Their entire choral sound had a pliable purity and cohesiveness, which complemented their Estonian repertoire perfectly.

The evening showcase concert included the Podium Choir, which was composed of numerous Ottawa choirs. They performed Paul Winter’s “Missa Gaia” aka “Earth Mass”. Under the direction of Matthew Larkin, over 120 singers sang "Missa Gaia" accompanied by strings, percussion, and piano. There were even sound effects of whales and wolves, though I’m convinced the wolves sounded more like dinosaurs. These sound effects were integrated with the previously mentioned musical components to create a soundscape celebrating all of earth’s living things. While I’m not sure if it was because I was sitting at the back of the hall, I found it extremely difficult to hear the choir. Once the accompaniment emerged, it blanketed the sound of the singers. Visually, I could tell they were singing at full volume. Overall, it was difficult to hear the musical clarity when the choral voices sounded muffled. Winter’s piece had lots of unique ideas, including an audience participation component where a hymn was provided for congregational singing and many power-packed choral melodies. What I enjoyed most was that it was a remarkable showcase of combined choral effort and passion in the Ottawa choral community.

I’m looking forward to what else this Podium has to offer! My upcoming day will be filled with sessions, interviews, and concerts and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Until next time readers, take care!

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I'll be writing daily Podium 2012 blog updates which will be cross-posted on The Sound and Noise, The Choir Girl Blog and the ACCC Choral Bytes Blog. As well, I will be live tweeting from @misssable. You can also find all conference tweets and news using this hashtag: #Podium2012

The Choral Haze of Good Friday

Greetings readers,

Do you know those moments when you just phase out of reality because all you can see and feel is that immediate moment in time? Well, that was what the entire Pro Coro Good Friday performance felt like to me last night. All sense of linear time was lost and the whole experience was just a haze of music-making that settled over the entire performance.

The first part of the program featured works by Caldara, Bruckner, Enns, Nystedt and Scarlatti, which were sung with the University of Alberta Madrigal Singers. Nystedt's "O Crux" and Enns' "Litany" created some memorable moments of the evening as well. "O Crux" had this shimmering dissonance that has the power to burrow itself into the core of each singer as well as the audience. Enns' "Litany" begins with the words "Drop, drop, drop, slow tears and bathe those feet," which is mirrored in the slow, descending thirds in the voice parts to mimic the dripping tears---gorgeous writing. The Scarlatti "Stabat Mater" moved with an exciting and flexible pace.

Following some solo work by Abra, in Esenvalds "Amazing Grace," it was onto the other showcase piece of the evening: Esenvalds' "Passion & Resurrection." One of my favorite parts was listening to the quartet, which Dr. Ratzlaff decided to place in the second balcony box seats. The singers sang with beautiful vocal balance on their perch. I loved seeing everybody's faces in the audience look upwards, towards the angelic entities, singing above us all. Jolaine's solo work in this piece was sung with sensitivity and an ear humming pureness that permeated throughout the hall. During rehearsals, I would often become mesmerized by her sound and would forget to come in on my entries. Distracted choral singing - it happens.

If the enthusiastic post-concert buzz back-stage was any indicator of audience reception of the concert, I think that it's safe to conclude that it was a success. While the Good Friday concert does, in a way, signal the end of the season. I feel like things are only just beginning since Pro Coro still has another concert out in Morinville next weekend, plus, auditions are beginning for Pro Coro's next season at the end of this month with new Artistic Director, Michael Zaugg. Meanwhile, I'm juggling some other musical and blogging commitments in these next few weeks. It is safe to say that I will have ample inspiration for future posts.

Until next time readers, take care!

Choir Retreat...Finally!

Greetings readers!

I hope you have enjoyed some of my recent Sound and Noise blog posts. It's something I've been trialling because I was presented with an opportunity to contribute some guests posts (Thanks @halfsharpmusic!). I feel like it will allow me to expand my writing range and be exposed to a group of passionate writers. Though I'm still finding a balance between Sound and Noise and my regular choir girl blogging, you can rest assured that my attention will, and always will be, dedicated to this blog.

In my guest blogger frenzy over the past weeks, I forgot to post an entry detailing the choir retreat I had with my women's choir, Belle Canto. It probably is of no surprise to you all, but I was super excited to have a solid day of singing. We began rehearsals on Friday night and continued all-day Saturday (with generous breaks for socializing and food.) Our Saturday evening ended off with a 5 course dinner at the Manor Cafe. The wine was plentiful and the white and dark chocolate cheesecake ball dipped in chocolate ganache and rolled in almonds was a decadent and proper way to end a day of singing. Thank-you for indulging me with reading my tangential food note.

One thing that was so refreshing during the retreat was that we were finally singing music that we love to sing. I know it does sound a bit ridiculous that we're more than halfway in our season and we're just starting to sing our true repertoire now. In an attempt to provide context and not an excuse, I do think it is due in part to the structure of our season. In the Fall, we have a dessert auction, but we only present 2-3 pieces since the other choirs in the Cantilon program are singing as well. At Christmas, again, the focus is on the younger choirs in the program and more traditional mass Christmas works instead of Belle Canto's own individual repertoire. Then following Christmas, we're busy preparing for our Broadway Gala and singing Oliver! is not like preparing a Brahms piece. Therefore, my internal response to the music we were beginning to rehearse at the retreat was: "Finally!"

During the retreat, it was just satisfying to learn some new music as well as have opportunities to hear other singers in the group. We tried some different seating arrangements (sitting in a circle with our conductor in the middle), we had some small group time where we had to work as a mini ensemble to present a piece to the rest of the choir, and we did some sectional work. I really enjoyed the small group time. It gave me a better chance to hear what the singers around me were doing and made me more self-aware and accountable for what I was contributing to the group as well. It's difficult to self-monitor as a singer in the choir because you can't hear what the overall group or section sounds like. Thus, if you're not getting specific feedback in regards to how you're doing, you just continue on the assumption that everything is fine unless you hear otherwise. It's easy to become disengaged and start coasting when this the case.

Currently, we are busy preparing our program for Podium 2012, which is a Choral Music Conference where conductors, singers, educators, composers, choral administrators and, music lovers in general, gather to attend sessions and listen to an array of choirs that present concerts during the conference. Some highlight pieces from the retreat weekend was, "Vidi Speciosam," a work Belle Canto commissioned by Canadian composer, Jeff Enns, which has gorgeous writing for female voice. Oh, how I love full-bodied sacred music singing.  I also enjoyed working on a set of Spanish pieces, which includes Estévez's "Mata del Anima Sola." I challenge you not to have this work stuck in your head after you watch this video (the first part morso than the second part):

 

Overall, I'm excited by the repertoire and preparatory process that awaits Belle Canto for the rest of our season. I cannot wait for Podium to arrive; I am going to be going on a massive blogging blitz. I plan to cover sessions, concerts, and potentially conduct some interviews to cross-post on this blog, Sound and Noise, as well as the ACCC Choral Bytes blog. It's going to be a busy time, but I would not have it any other way.

Until next time readers, take care!