Written by Grace Gallur I’m constantly talking about how much I’ve learnt running Candlelight VOX. This coming program is our fourth, and over this semester, I’ve felt a significant solidifying of my leadership style. I wanted to write about some of the techniques that I’ve learnt to employ in the rehearsal space regarding vocal health and acting pedagogy, the value of self-directed learning, and how the choir has created a space for myself and other singers to discover our artistic identities.
The choir doesn’t require singers to change or modify their sound to best “fit in” to the sounds around them - rather I ask the singers to be aware of the sounds that are around them - and simply by opening their ears to their fellow singers, the overall sound naturally becomes more unified.
We do not choose “easy” repertoire - but I explain to the singers that the music is best served when they only sing what is comfortable. I allow the singers to guide me on what is possible for them on any given day. I’ve received positive feedback from the singers that indicates they have understood this message clearly and are always mindful of how they are using their voice in rehearsals - and are subsequently learning more about their technique. Acting pedagogy I’ve also been able to apply much of my training at 16th St Actors’ Studio in the choir. I try to avoid telling the singers how the music "should" make them feel, to avoid them “muscling in” and projecting a performative idea onto the music. Instead, I do my best to facilitate an environment which allows them to have their own emotional response to the music, and then encourage them to act on the need to speak that the music and the text inspires in them. This was a particularly powerful technique for semester 1’s repertoire; Paul Mealor’s Stabat Mater demands an understanding of the weight of the text. Instead of allowing the heaviness of the content to swamp the singers, I spoke to them about feeling empathy for the text and then being driven to action, BY that empathy - not an easy thing to ask, but the choristers definitely rose to the challenge. This kind of thinking can feel uncomfortable at first, because it requires one to be open to being moved by the content of the text (and the harmony, and the melody, etc). Take, for example: Cujus animam gementem/contristatam et dolentem/petransivit gladius (literally: through soul weeping/compassion and grieving/passed a sword). Mary is in such agonising grief that she feels as if her soul is being split by a sword; this is not a text for the faint-hearted. The knee-jerk reactions in the face of this discomfort can be to laugh, distract other choristers, or deflect away from the power of the text. These are all very tempting, but the artistic rewards of breathing through the physiological reactions inspired in the choir by the text, and then "demanding" compassion and understanding from the audience (quis non posset contristari?) is, for me, where the gold lies. The effect on the choir's sound, when fuelled with an un-"performed" urgency and passion, was enormously powerful. I found "actioning words" very useful here; as a text, the Stabat Mater searches, sobers, steadies, offers, strips, demands, and enlists the listener. (Inadvertently, as Janice Chapman describes, when one is connected to the “emotion” or truth of the idea, the sound is “connected up” and ultimately more vibrant and healthy and "primal". There is a whole PhD in this idea regarding the usefulness of 20th century acting pedagogy specifically to operatic singers, which I intend to write one day!!) The value of self-directed learning In my own private singing lessons, if I report on something feeling as though it doesn’t work properly, my teacher will quickly reply: “and what do you normally do when that happens?”. In that moment, a shift happens: I am required to independently self-evaluate and problem solve. We’ve been working together since the start of this year, and it’s now reached the point that I’ve found myself saying “I don’t know what’s happening here. I think it’s [x y z]” - in the same breath as finding myself confused by a problem, my brain has kicked into gear to find a solution. This same mechanism is what I find myself facing behind the conductor’s music stand in Candlelight VOX rehearsals. When starting rehearsals in 2018, this was hugely intimidating. Up until that point, I hadn’t been required to come up with solutions independently (and quickly!) before. There is something to be said for working without immediately being given a solution; the nature of Candlelight VOX is that we are on our own in rehearsals and there’s no-one standing behind us with a map telling us where to go. Learning how to “take up space” and give directions unapologetically had ginormous payoffs for my musicality, and subsequently, my musical confidence, as I detailed for CutCommon last year. With every program, my ear is becoming more fine-tuned and I’m arriving at solutions to musical problems. I’m also opening the floor to the choir to ask them what they would do to improve the sound, and for fine-tuning work I send the choir into sectionals where each section works as a team to troubleshoot their part. We’re all becoming vastly more independent musicians from this. How the choir has allowed us to find our own artistic identity Being in a leadership position has allowed me to discover what is unique about the way that I work. This awards me some sanity as a soprano in the face of entering an infamously competitive industry! Through the choir, I’ve been able to discover that I’m driven by my passion for story. Realising that my “way in” to music is to contact artistic honesty - through serving what the music naturally asks the performer to do, and allowing oneself to be therefore moved to expression - was first articulated in VOX. It’s been very exciting to hear members of the choir also start to say “what I normally do” also. Together, we’ve created a space in which experimentation is encouraged, so that failure is celebrated and unique perspectives are found - and then learnt from in the next rehearsal. I’m so proud of the work that everyone is doing together. Applying what we've learnt in a performance environment I'm very excited to be applying what we've learnt this year in concert in November. Nothing beats actually doing the work; I find the more I get up and perform, the deeper-engrained the lessons I'm learning become. I'm thrilled that the choir is now at a point where everyone is collectively contributing towards the vision of a program; George has written us the most fantastic pieces for bowed vibraphone, and Anna is performing a couple of pieces with her string quartet also. The concert also features the work of a smaller ensemble extracted from VOX who have been working with two of the Con's composition students on their works, conducted by Nicole Marshall. We've all missed Aidan while he's been away on exchange - but we're all excited to hear what music he's discovered while away! We've been working on a program that is entirely centred around creating a blissful, meditative experience for the audience. We chose the Norla Dome in the Mission to the Seafarers for its incredible acoustic - it's a hauntingly resonant space. I've chosen pieces that take advantage of the fact that human voices singing sustained seconds and suspensions sounds utterly MAGICAL. I'm itching to get into the Dome for our dress rehearsal to watch the singers' faces light up when they hear the massive 10-second echo. We're singing a number of pieces surrounding the audience to allow the sound to wash through the entire space. Amongst the end-of-year busyness, we'd love to help you to close your eyes and breathe - even if just for 80 minutes. It would be my pleasure to share this experience with you and I hope to see you there :) Grace PAUSE TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/candlelight-vox-pause-tickets-73077991239
2 Comments
Nina
10/17/2019 01:49:11 am
I appreciate how connected you are with your choir members. Your conducting style sounds uniquely collaborative. I very much enjoyed reading such a well-written article.
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Grace
10/17/2019 03:26:19 am
Thanks Nina!! :)
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