WCS could choose to be one of an ocean of choral societies churning out much of the mainstream repertoire and, over time, recycling programmes. It doesn't, though. Instead it strives to be a little different by having flexible and varied programmes and being involved in events outside of its usual seasonal structure, and there has been a notable increase in these in recent years. It is hoped that these extra items encourage existing members to stay and new members to join to share in the challenges and fun from learning and performing all the music that we learn throughout any given season. It is this that enables the choir to claim rightly to be one of the best amateur choral groups in this part of the country.
Whether it be pushing the choir forward for its principal performances or getting involved in extra activities, that means keeping the standards up and seeking avenues to improve. Part of my role as Chairman is to manage and facilitate the various performances in which we get involved. Part of his role as Musical Director, Michael's responsibility is to maintain the musical standard.That maintenance includes keeping a very close ear on the blend and mix of the various voices and parts, and identifying those areas where standards are maybe starting to slip. It is clearly prudent that any such anomalies should be identified and positive action taken to stem any such slippage. Over the past couple of seasons, Michael has noted some things that are starting to creep in and cause some concern, particularly in the area of intonation but also in the blending of voices, and he has discussed these with the executive committee who are in full agreement with his findings and recommendations.
I guess many of you can probably see where this is going now. When every one of you joined this choir, you had a short voice test with Michael to determine your vocal range and appropriate voice part. You were almost certainly advised that you could be asked to have your voice checked again at later dates. The balance, mix and blend changes with every member who joins or leaves and we have reached a point now where there are occasions when one or more of these three elements is noticeably out of line; we need to remedy that and we need to do that now to get it back on the right track.
Therefore, many of you will have your voices checked again by Michael. These sessions will take place immediately after the next concert, i.e. tagged on to the end of this season and we will be scheduling time slots with members for Monday evenings or Saturday mornings.
I understand that both Michael and Tim will be involved so that you will get a balanced view in return. The information they gather will be enormously useful in enabling them to determine where changes, if any, could be made.The feedback to you may, for example, be a suggested change in voice part if it is felt your voice is probably not or no longer suitable for the part you currently sing. It is quite possible that the current seating arrangements will change and that you may not be seated where you are now for rehearsals and concerts. The central aims of this exercise are to arrive at a better blending of voices, a tighter control on intonation and for Michael to know your individual voices better.
Events such as the Festival of Remembrance in the Royal Albert Hall for 75-100 singers, the Wimbledon Messiah last December for 40 singers, the Broadway & Beyond show for which we've been asked to supply 20 or so singers, Songs of Praise for 90 singers, wedding choirs, and so on mean that we can draw on a pool of good singers to fulfil these invitations. For the larger numbers this usually doesn't pose much of an issue. For smaller events, however, we can take rather a risk at times on the voices of those who volunteer. It would be far better if we could know the right voices on which to draw for any given request - a 10-voice choir for a wedding, a 40-voice chamber choir for something else, or a 100-voice choir for the Royal Albert Hall, or whatever. We don't really have that information readily to hand.
Now, I know the thought of re-testing (I hate the word re-audition) scares the heck out of some of you, especially those of you for whom the voice test is a distant memory. Let me, though, say this.
From the feedback returned to you, no one … will be asked to leave.
The session will only last 5-7 minutes and involve (a) singing some scales to verify your vocal range and adaptability, and (b) singing a pre-prepared section from the Messiah to observe your musical interpretation.
There will be no sight-reading.
In thinking about how the feedback should be presented to you from Michael and Tim, this will likely be in the form of a score on a couple of subjects to help you in your improvement.
Please look at this is a positive thing for both the choir as a whole and for you as an individual. The response from the survey last year showed that you want this choir to succeed and move forward and the executive committee firmly believes that this is the right course of action to take in order to maintain the mix of amateur fun and professional standards in all our performances.
Thank you.
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