VU at The Swan Theatre, Worcester, June 2011
Just over three years ago, after watching the BBC’s “Last Choir Standing”, I called a friend and said I fancied putting a contemporary choir together. She was to handle the admin side, I’d be the music monkey. We started small – 30 people playing small gigs to friends and family while I taught them basic technique and we found out what kind of animal this particular group wanted to be. It was fun, and it was OK, but it wasn’t great. At least, not from where I was standing. What I didn’t realise – until they started telling me – was that the experience was changing their lives.
I’ve just come back from a rehearsal for a show which is going on this Saturday (28th Oct), and which is our 6th and biggest sellout concert of the year. The first five were in theatres (actually, four were in theatres, two with the fab Steve Maitland, two on our own, the fifth in The Theatre From Hell – see previous blog!), and this one’s in the glorious surroundings of Worcester Cathedral. The unsure 30-strong ragtag bunch has now become a proud, hard working machine comprising 120-odd singers, each of whom spends hours each week learning the material that I relentlessly throw at them, and turning up regular as clockwork to the Tuesday night rehearsals, where they work on styling, phrasing, dynamics, movement and real singing. The VU Sound (Voices Unlimited) has become an integral and deeply important part of many of their lives, and they’ll do just about anything to rock up at rehearsal and join in. We’ve had people in with slipped discs, people about to have major surgery, people who’ve just had surgery and are still recovering from the anaesthetic (!), people whose personal lives are falling apart, people who have suffered bereavements, accidents, injuries of all kinds – and yet they turn up, and they sing. Why?
Singing, y’see… singing is an odd thing, in the sense that it’s an activity that adds up to far more than the sum of its parts. Most of us are aware that the act of singing releases ‘happy chemicals’ into the body, that it’s good for the respiratory system, that it’s a feelgood activity even when you’re just singing alone – but when you factor in a bunch of other people all working towards the same goal, factor in the harmonies (is there anything better on earth than the sound of well-sung harmonies? I’m not sure there is), the laughs, the social life, the new friendships, the feeling of achievement when you’ve worked yourself half to death on a show (or just a single song) and your demon of a musical director pronounces it fit for public consumption – then it becomes something far more than just stringing notes and words together.
Ask almost any individual member of The VU Sound if they’re accomplished singers and for the most part, they’ll tell you ‘no’. But ask them how great a sound they make as an ensemble and they’ll talk your ear off about what a genuinely awesome noise it is. Now, I’m a complete music snob. I’ve been in the pro music and theatre industries my whole life, and I’m all for giving the jobs to the highly-trained people who deserve them, but that doesn’t mean that amateur singers can’t create a pro-standard sound if they’re given the opportunity and led the right way. VU has changed my mind about one of my long held beliefs (never work with animals, children or amateurs), mainly because in working with this great group over the last three years, they’ve shown more commitment to the process than I could ever have wished for or expected, and because they keep telling me how much it has transformed them as people. Did I do that? No, the process did – I just facilitated it – but I’m very glad to call myself their MD.
As for the show, I have the great privilege of singing alongside three superb pro lead vocalists (Alex Weatherhill, Mark Pincher, Dean Bayliss) from the world of musical theatre, whilst standing in front of a group of singers – I won’t use the word ‘choir’, they’re not a choir – who would be able to hold their own pretty much anywhere. Bring on Saturday, and thanks, VU – you’re amazing.
Cannot wait to hear VU on Saturday, Ive a feeling ill be moved to tears………im going soft in my old age! Love the blog …welcome back! xx
Ria,
As your techie team at St. Peter’s Baptist Church, Diane and I would like to give our praise to everyone who make up the VU Voices Unlimited. You are a great bunch of guys who week after week turn up for rehearsals and who listen and take in what is being explained about breathing techniques, how to stand, when to move and in what direction. I think I know most of the moves now and most of the songs and we are really looking forward to the Worcester Cathedral gig.
We must remember however, to thank Ria and Anne who put this idea into practice, and to Martin who is the unspoken hero who helps in the background with the attendance sheets and monies.
I operate the PA system at SPBC and tend to do most of the private bookings, (school choirs, charity events, brass bands etc.) but the VU is something else. My many years in the music business has never involved me working with such a dedicated bunch of people. Long may it last.