Voices Unlimited Rock Worcester Again! November 29, 2009
Posted by Ria Keen in Uncategorized.add a comment
The Voices Unlimited Contemporary Choir (or at least, about 60 of the 90-strong membership) did three gigs at the Worcester Victorian Fayre yesterday, and absolutely stopped the town dead each time!
The first two shows were in (wait for it, oh the glamour!) the M & S loading bay on Worcester’s historic Friar Street. It doesn’t sound like much of a venue, granted, but the atmosphere generated by the choir’s singing, and the enthusiasm of the crowd, who blocked the street for the duration of both performances, ensured that nobdy cared!
The crowd were unbelievable, both in terms of numbers (we were told that we were by far the biggest draw of the Fayre) and in the sense that they were willing to stand in the cold and listen to the choir sing for 30 minutes, when they could have been getting on with drinking Gluhwein or enjoying their Christmas shopping at the Fayre, which is a lovely annual event to which people travel from miles around.
Many ‘out of towners’ approached me afterwards and said that they were so glad that they’d travelled to Worcester, just so that they could hear the choir.
The final performance of the day took place in the deconsecrated St. Swithun’s church, which is a beautiful listed building that we first performed in this summer, as part of the Worcester Musica Festival. Given that the church is unheated, we weren’t really expecting many people to come and sit through an entire show, but the choir sang to a full house and received an absolutely amazing response.
Congratulations to all of the choir members for their tremendous achievements this year. I was very happy to be your Musical Director yesterday, despite the cold, the stress of setting up in a town centre which was just heaving with thousands of people, and the ‘glamour’ of singing in a loading bay! Ha ha!
I for one am looking forward to continuing to work with you in 2010, which promises to be an exiting year, and I know that choir manager Anne Bradshaw feels very much the same!
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X-Factor: Singing in the Right Key? November 22, 2009
Posted by Ria Keen in performing, rants, singing stuff, teaching stuff.Tags: jedward, keys for singing, vocal coach, x-factor
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I often get asked ‘what is the right key for me to sing in’ and I always say the same thing – all of them! There is no ‘right key’ for a voice, only the right key for the singer’s interpretation of an individual song.
I can understand beginners not quite grasping this, but what excuse is there for an experienced vocal coach or production team getting this stuff wrong? Every week, as I sit through another helping of uninspiring mediocrity courtesy of X-Factor, I find myself screaming at the TV ‘HE’S IN THE WRONG KEY!’ Not occasionally. Every week.
It would appear that whoever’s picking these keys for the artists (and surely the responsibility must rest with the vocal coaches?) can’t hear that most of the contestants are under-singing because everything’s too low (this week, I give you Jedward), or struggling to find their way onto something resembling a ‘money note’ because the tessitura’s wrong.
Really, if you’re calling yourself a top vocal coach and you can’t do something as fundamental as finding the right key for a singer, given a specific song, then you’re in the wrong business or you need re-training. It comes down to having a profound understanding of registers. Too many vocal coaches don’t.
Power Dressing November 7, 2009
Posted by Ria Keen in life issues.Tags: dressing well, good grooming
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During the lesson, we had occasion to discuss the way in which posture affects the voice – the way in which standing correctly affects how well the voice functions, and additionally affects how a person feels……. which in turn affects how the voice functions!
This got me to thinking about posture in everyday life, and about how we dress. I think it’s a great pity that people don’t ‘dress’ for occasions anymore. For example, people used to dress up to go to the theatre. These days, most folks rock up in jeans and t-shirts. Restaurants are not, on the whole, filled with people who have made a great effort, and seeing someone very well groomed walking down the average street is unusual.
As a society, we’ve become lazy about our appearance, and I’m not sure if this is reflective of slipping standards in manners, etiquette and dicipline, or if the slipping standards in dress are in part responsible for those things.
All I know is that I still appreciate a person who makes an effort to look good, because I believe that if you can be bothered to try with your appearance, then you can probably be bothered to make an effort in other areas of life.
Dressing with care and attention to detail makes you feel better about yourself, and makes others respond better to you. It takes a bit more time and effort but…… isn’t that the point? Bring back dressing up, say I.
