Learning lyrics and melodies of each song was quick. For America and 29, fine details were mostly focused on and the way to get across the meaning of what I wanted to say from the songs. 29, there was a lot more practice and work needed on the melody and my vocal range. playing around with my teacher at finding the best pronunciation to be able to make the high notes. This is also something which I have never done before in a pop performance. With choirs I am used to singing high but, in a group, so it can be more hidden. In pop it is isolated. This caused some nerves but also a will to get it correct. When practicing America, I played around with the switching of voices and where to place it to give a sense of vulnerability to the music. During this it was very useful to talk to my teacher about it and have discussions about the meaning of the song. 

Concerts and recordings

 

Recordings; as well as listening and learning from the studio versions of each song, I also watched various live performances to look at how they sang their songs compared to what I wanted to do with my own performance. When looking at Cigar, Tamino will most often sing whilst playing guitar or keys (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxXkmA3U7xg). Something which I was not wanting to do. This allowed me to have more freedom of movement placing in more visual emotion to the song. 

 

When performing 29, Loïc has a few different styles. One which I drew on was a performance where he moves around on steps, whilst dancers are on stage telling the story of a marriage breaking up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvi6pWgdgMM). I found that movement of expression and storytelling within a performance to work well. Having seen and worked with both these performers on their recordings, I also drew upon conversations id had with them about their gigs and set ups for them.

 

 When looking at the performance of America, it is often done very still at the edge of the stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR27Pvi4VqE). This set up I really like the reflective quality it has. Drawing you in to just the lyrics. So I decided to adopt this for my performance. 

Performance process

 

I would like to say that my understanding of the music, at least for the first 2 songs is very good. Having worked with Tamino on his new album – Sahar, and with Loïc on his new [as of yet] untitled album whilst on placement at ICP Recording Studios. Having seen how they performed both songs and knowing them personally helped to shape my performance as I could take the original intent and add what I wanted to. For London Grammar, I have seen them live quite a few times, and have looked at the solitary still way Hannah Reid often performs this song. It comes across that one should focus on the lyrics and reflective quality of the music rather than flashy lights and movements.

 

When playing with a band, I do think that it helps my performance. I enjoy the artistic additions that other people can bring to shape your outcome. Working with Stromae on the Multitude Tour, I saw how his band interact with each other and how their performances are very strict once on stage. However this comes from the amount of rehearsals and shaping of the line-up in preproduction. For myself, working with my friends whose talent I know and respect helps to drive my performance and change aspects to create a better band sound rather than something that I like just for myself. This in turn increases the overall performance. 

 

When performing, I am always aware of the audience and how many people are in the room. However, this is not something that affects me too much. I do however prefer larger crowds as it is harder to pick out individual faces. With my classical background, I used to find performing instrumentally a lot more stressful than vocally. Something which I do still find today if doing classical music. However vocal performances, I enjoy being up in front of a crowd and showing what I can do. Coming from a classical background, I am very much more used to being more still on stage when performing. Building up and practicing a performance with the pop side is still something that I am working on.

Repertoire 

 

The songs I picked were all ones I knew already and enjoyed, knowing 2 of the artists personally, Tamino and Loïc, having worked with them on placement for their new albums. I think that the songs I picked show a wide vocal range. Cigar – Tamino, covers a lower range of my vocal range. 29 – Loïc Nottet, covers a very high range in the chorus. A range I had to work a lot to use it well. Singing in choir helped to shape this performance as it bought back classical skills I hadn’t used over placement, vocal range switching between head and chest voice. This was a very useful skill to have for 29 which goes up to a top C#. This has been a challenge to master, but I think that it has been a manageable one without pushing too far. The third song, America – London Grammar, covers the more middle part of my voice. With some switching between cheat and head. 

 

One of the reasons I picked these songs was the story they put together. Cigar talks about Tamino figuring out his bi-sexuality – “don’t make me choose this or that side” – and how he falls into the traps of trying things with older men who exploit him. At the same time he still is comforted and trying to understand women – “she kisses my skin, I don’t know what this is or where to begin”. 29 is then a breakup song, as a girl is breaking up with a boy who feels like he has lost everything and is desperately trying to keep the relationship alive – “please can we just say pretty lies”. The line “they’re my enemy they’re my remedy” shows how helpless in love he is with this girl. Finally, America. This song is about looking back at an old relationship, knowing in hindsight that there was never anything there. The singer wishes the ex-lover all the best – “and I hope that you find it, all that you need” – whilst finally reflecting upon how they got lost in the relationship, in the other persons dreams – “all of our time chasing America, but she never had a home for me”. The ark here shows the potential different stages of a relationship. It also reflects personally for me. I went through the stage of figuring out my sexuality, got too attached (as all teenagers do) to my first boyfriend, and now with more maturity and time, look back on that relationship knowing it wouldn’t go anywhere but wishing well to the boy it was with, as I am glad it happened. 

 
Further progress. 

 

I would like to develop further my higher register, strengthening vocal chords to allow for more power in high notes. This would be through singing more pieces at that register, something which I do not do commonly. Working through intervals of a diminished 5^th I found very useful in pushing my vocal folds. I would also like to develop my stage presence more. I have found that the best live artists know how to own the stage. For instance when watching London Grammar at Alexandra palace in November 2021, their support act, Eloise, had no stage presence and just sat at her keyboard. As a result, this was not a memorable performance, even if her songs were any good. In contrast, watching the support for Maggie Rogers in the same venue, Samia, she was dancing all-round the stage, kicking up her legs and cartwheeling. This grabbed people’s attention to this unknown American artist and made her set a lot more enjoyable. Similarly, watching Oscar and The Wolf at Scala, his stage presence is one of the key elements of his performance. This is something that I would like to work more on developing, which would come just with exposure of being on stage in a pop scenario. 

12^th October 22 LTR PATS Studio 1. 

 

My concert co-ordination was at the beginning of term. It consisted of 4 players, all classical with piano accompaniment. This meant that there was not too much to manage in terms of microphones and layout. There was only one change in the piano lid which was for the 3^rd performance – flute. Co-ordinating getting the repertoire from performers was the hardest challenge I found as it took a long time to get responses from people with all the correct information. If you then compare this to a pop gig, for instance Oscar and the Wolf which was manged at Scala on November 16^th by Jeppe, the track list was set for the gig weeks in advance, as well as being all the artists own songs. When co-ordinating for a pop professional gig, co-ordination with both the venue, artist and management Is key. Timings or the gig, performance needs of the artist and band need to all be considered as to make it run smoothly. Concert co-ordination for a LTR does not have these elements as the venue and management are all internal. What does still need co-ordinating, and managing are tech rehearsal times. Due to it being a performer light concert this was easy to get together and everyone was happy with their times. The main dependency on that day was the time that the pianists could come in, Maureen and Margret. When the concert started there were no issues with running the program or with the audience that were there. Everything went smoothly from start to finish. 

 

Comparing to the pop LTR which I performed in, there was less people and timings to manage which made my job easier. I think that if I had managed a pop, or larger concert that I would have had to have done more work on timings of tech rehearsals. 

 

 

Singing lessons,-  21^st Oct, 24^th Oct, 2^nd Nov, 13^th Nov, 18^th Nov, 24^th Nov, 2^nd Dec, 6^th Dec

 

Private singing practice done each Wednesday afternoon 17hr-18hr, Sundays 14hr-15hr

 

 

Remembrance concert – Various Howell’s works were sung including his requiem. Other pieces such as Leighton’s Drop Drop were also sung. This was the first concert of the year. The repertoire consisted of a few challenging moments. However, fortunately for myself I had sung all but one of the pieces before, so it was remembering and getting them back into my head. This meant that personally, I could focus more on the sound and musical elements of the music rather than note and word bashing. I felt that overall, this concert went well, and it was a good chance for the choir to get out of studio 1 and into a different space. 

 

Carol Concert. – An early carol concert was done on the 30^th November in Guildford cathedral. Whilst the more traditional carols being well known by the majority of the choir we focused mainly on the newly commissioned student works in rehearsals. This years works varied quite a lot in style, which gave a good challenge to the choir. I think that adapted to the styles well giving each its own sense of character. Singing in the cathedral, the choir adapted to the space quite quickly to compensate for dynamic ranges. I think more work could have been done on this as a group if we had had more time in the cathedral beforehand. Given the time we had though I think we did well.  

 

Leadership.

This year was the first year under direction of Jeremy Barnham. In first year, pre-covid, it was under Russel Keable. Jeremy’s leadership was very motivational. He was highly energetic and driving us forward from the first rehearsal. I found that compared to Russel in the first year he bought a bit more life. This may be because it was his first year in command. Along with Michele, the choir manager, they drove a big push towards sectionals, something which hadn’t been the case as much in my first year. This helped to build not only the choral strength of the choir but also the cohesiveness of us as a team which works towards better rehearsals and performances. Compared to other choirs I have sang in before, like The Byron Consort (director Philip Evans) and St Mary’s Harrow on the Hill Choir (director Tim Smith), I found that there was a lot more freedom on private practice and sectionals. However, from being friends and students, this drove people to want to do the sectionals. This I would attribute to Jeremy’s leadership and enjoyable energy he bought. 

 

Bibliography

Ternström, S., 1999. Preferred self-to-other ratios in choir singing. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 105(6), pp. 3663-3574.