Sarah Talbot

A few years ago, I wrote a post about being in a community choir: the benefits, the adventures. Since then, so much has happened and I realise that perhaps I was thinking to small. I know this because of what I have done since moving to London. I have since moved back to Australia to pursue more music avenues, but thought I’d share, and extend on my previous post.

I’ve been involved with choirs, pretty much since I began singing. I started out in school and chamber choirs (smaller versions of larger choirs). I have always sung in the soprano ranges, alternating between high soprano and mezzo-soprano, depending on the needs of the music and sound balance of the choir. Choir structures started out as single line of melody with accompaniment, then progressed to SSA (soprano 1, soprano 2, alto… I went to an ‘all-girls’ school),and then into SATB (Soprano, alto, tenor, bass) when I moved into community and auditioned amateur choirs.

I have always advocated the arts in education and community engagement and participation I have even been a music teacher and later, a Head of Department of Arts in a secondary school. Here comes something that may surprise you all…with the exception of a few board examinations, I have no formal qualifications in Music. Everything I know has been through life learning. That is roughly 28 years of singing, playing, reading and writing music.

Now I’m studying a university degree in music, in order to make the jump from amateur to professional. It’s also to give me some grounding in what I want to do next on my musical career. But I know now that even being an ‘amateur’ can get you to brilliant places just by perseverance, commitment…and a little faith.

Want proof?

Learning the craft

I’ve been involved with community and amateur choirs for over 15 years. When I started in Toowoomba, the local performance and choral groups were (and still are) fortunate to be able to perform in a brilliant theatre complex, the Empire Theatre. It is a proper stage area, with a main auditorium, studio, and smaller performance complex. It is complete with sound, lighting, curtains…the full kit and caboodle.

When I wasn’t performing onstage in the choir or chorus, I was in the backstage booth crammed in with up to 20 other people, with 2 TV screens (one of the stage, the other for the conductor), a microphone (one for each singer), and speaker. I learned how to manage my sound and performing with a microphone, something which you don’t often do in a choir.

Onstage microphones, I admit can be a little annoying, I don’t like tape stuck on the back of my neck to hide the chord of the mic-pack, which is (uncomfortably) hidden in the curve of my back. There was one instance where I didn’t have a mic because I sang a high tone note, that caused feedback in the sound system. Instead, I was placed at the very front of the stage, and when I hit that high note, everyone (onstage and audience) could hear me despite the lack of microphone. So I learned about trusting tone and acoustics to carry sound… also earned my nickname ‘Razor’, because I could cut through everyone else.

Mind you manners…

I also learned ‘stage etiquette’. Yes, there is an etiquette involved with performing. It does vary from culture to culture, so you learn to be aware…but the general rules include…

• When performing with an onstage orchestra, the performance is not over till the conductor lowers their arms and relaxes. For a choir, it means to remain focused on conductor until the final moment…which usually means in deadpan silence. Don’t destroy that moment. It allows for the audience to process what has been performed, and properly conclude the experience.
• An audience knows to applaud at the end of the performance (most of the time). A standing ovation is a choice of the audience if they feel that the performance is worthy. If you see a standing ovation from the stage, you know you’ve done a good job (as if the adrenaline rush wasn’t enough). In Europe, I’ve noticed that audiences also use the ‘unified clap’ to indicate approval.
• A conductor will usually acknowledge the choir/chorus as its own entity. You need to be ready to accept such acknowledgment. As it is very hard to take a bow with 100 people at the same time, accept the acknowledgement with a slight nod and smile.
• When backstage, be aware of your surroundings. The backstage are is not usually a safe area to mess around in. Be respectful of techs and follow instructions of managers.
• Orchestra, choirs, soloists and conductors are usually separated. A sad but true fact. This is to help keep us focused as a group, and allows for quick rehearsal sessions to occur. This doesn’t mean that we don’t talk to each other, quite the contrary. We often talk to the percussionists in the orchestra (mainly because they’re the closest orchestra section to the choir). We also interact with soloists, conductors and other directors during rehearsals. I often get a raised eyebrow or two when string players are talking in their lingo (examples such as ‘arco’ and ‘pizzicato’) and I speak in similar lingo (they don’t know I have a background as a cellist, so I understand them perfectly). There’s no price for being nice. So say ‘hello’, but be aware that they have a job to do, just as you do as a chorister.
• A choir is a group not an individual, so wear the desired dress (often a black dress with covered shoulders for myself), and behave with decorum. You’re a representative of the choir, and a reflection of such.

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The music

The pieces I have song have been quite varied, from a 3 minute ballad to a 2 hour Brahms Requiem. Each piece I’ve performed adds its own challenges, whether its sight-reading (singing unseen music, straight from the pages), language (I’ve sung in French, German, Italian, Latin, Spanish, Hungarian… I’m fluent in none), and the emotional interconnections. I’m not an actor (and if I ever was then I’d probably be a really bad one), but music does require a person to play a part, in depicting a story or theme. That also requires changing the tone and quality of my voice, for example sounding like an ethereal angel with open true tone vowels, to an old hag using nasal vowels and harsh spitting consonants. The trick then is to get a large group of people to sound unified whilst characterising the music. The process often involves a lot of hilarity and joking whilst experimenting with sounds to get the desired result.

‘Oh, the places I go’….

I’m amazed of the places I have been and performed at in my amateur choral career. Some places I could only dream of being in. At the beginning, I thought that performing onstage in front of people was pretty cool, then performing with a full orchestra at Toowoomba Empire Theatre, and Brisbane’s Queensland Performing Arts Complex. In recent years, I’ve performed at The Barbican Centre, St Pauls Cathedral and the Royal Albert Hall in London; concert halls in Paris and Lucerne. Talk about moving up in the world of performing venues.

I got my first taste of recording studios when I was very young, primary school. The city council recorded school choirs for a charity tape, which required us to sing at a single microphone in an empty room. In high school, the choirs were recorded with a similar set up, but the recordings were distributed only within the school (copyright issues). First professional recording session was at Ghost Gum Studios in Brisbane, recording for the Queensland Pops Orchestra. Each member had their own head set, with the backing track and a ‘click’ track (helps to keep us all together). I thought this was it… I’d made it. I was wrong. What is the world most renown recording studio?… Abbey Road Studios. I got to perform and record there…twice with two different choirs.

The People

I can safely say that the people that I have met in my choir life are some of the closest friends that I have. I’m often asked if I have a social life outside of choir. Choir is a social life. We go out for dinners and drinks, and sometimes go out for dates. we talk to each other about home and work life. We support each other through hardships of grief, stress, pain, and illness. We celebrate and share each others achievements. Choir life is a family in itself. We spend so much time in rehearsal and performance, it is hard to be isolated. With music being an often emotional process, we often bear our souls to each other, whether intentional or not. That’s the Art.

Not only do I have close friendships, but I’ve have some pretty awesome professional acquaintances as well, with soloists, conductors and directors. Social media is a brilliant thing to stay in contact, ask advice and professional direction. Who would have thought that I would be connected with some of the most prominent people in the performance classical choral music?

Where’s the $$$?

A downside is that being in community or amateur choirs is that its unpaid. Yes…even the London Symphony Chorus, and BBC symphony Chorus are unpaid for choristers who volunteer their time to rehearse and perform. There is a plus side though…the people who commit to amateur choirs are there for the love of music, not for the money. They want to be there, as opposed to have to be there.

Most organisations understand that we are volunteers, so there are often perks such as transport and accommodation subsidies, discounts at music shops, free performing and recording opportunities, and the repertoire is various.

Advice…

• Learn the fundamentals of music by taking a basic music theory course. Reading music makes the process of learning and understanding a piece, a whole lot easier. I’ve known people to be in choirs and not be musically literate, and sometimes that works. The thing about that is that the finer details of the piece are often written in the score in notation or terminology. Things like tempo, dynamics, accents, emphasis, quality and character. Take a short course, read a music book or workbook, take music theory and singing lessons…every little bit helps a lot.
• Look after your voice and your health. General rule is ‘If it doesn’t feel right or it hurts, don’t do it’. Get to know how to take care of your voice, there are many  methods, but in the end it is you that determines what is best. That includes emotional wellbeing as well as physical. If a choir isn’t something that you gain enjoyment from, then perhaps you should find another choir. I’ve been in choirs where members argue and snipe at each other. It is not a good place to be. Also be aware of your physical limitations. If you have a disability or incapacitated (even temporarily), talk to your choir director, manger or section representative. They might be able to come to an arrangement for your needs.
• Be prepared. I’ve found that the choral conductors like members to do a little homework with pieces. Read through the score, listen to recordings (if available), learn parts that need to be off-book. It shows initiative, and enthusiasm to the group as a whole. Also helps to gain the trust of directors and other members, knowing that you can be depended on to do the work and come up with the results.
• Bring a pencil to rehearsal and take notes. Conductors and orchestrators will often change (on the spur of the moment) what is written in scores to suit the choir and assist with blending with the orchestra, or accompaniment. Notes can be anything from tempo and dynamic changes, section characteristics, cues…the list goes on.
• Go to rehearsals. Sometimes they are tedious, and sometimes pointless. But to someone in the choir, it is of benefit, so be patient. A choir is a team, not an individual. A session of note-bashing can help just as much as a run-through of a piece.
• There are circumstances that you need to be sensible too. If you are ill, opt to miss rehearsal. You don’t want to be responsible for an epidemic of illness in a choir a week before a performance. Like-wise for life’s priorities. Family (parents, children, spouse) should come first.
• Grab every opportunity. I’m constantly looking for opportunities to participate in choral events, whether that’s performances, tv opportunities, online forums, virtual choirs, recording studios, workshops etc. I treat each opportunity as a learning experience, and I do learn a lot. These events are also great for networking and making contacts with people in the industry. You never know who you might meet, or where you might go.

Despite not being paid for anything that I have done, sometimes its about the love of the art of music, and making the most out of every opportunity.

Now I’m no expert in music, or singing or choirs, but this is where being in a choir has gotten me. What lies ahead is anyone’s guess, but what a ride it has been up to here.