At the turn of the new year, I did my usual wrapping up of the year just gone and goal setting for the year to come. My word for the year, I discovered, was ‘organise’ (that’s a post for another day).
But it isn’t, apparently. What has become abundantly apparent is that this year is ALL about singing.
For a few years I’ve been on on-again, off-again member of a local choir, where I sing tenor with the blokes (there’s always a lack of tenors). At the end of the last year, I decided I want to take up singing lessons again with a teacher I had some years prior, briefly. Just for the hell of it.
That has changed everything.
Firstly, it means recovering my contralto voice. Constantly singing tenor has done me no favours at all, and now it is work to get my voice back. But it is a joy, too … “I’m THRILLED with what is happening with your voice,” my teacher said at the end of last week’s lesson, as she hugged me.
Currently I’m working on Bois Epais, a simple 17th century piece by Jean-Baptiste Lully. It’s hard enough getting used to singing contralto again, but to it in FRENCH? Mon dieu! I was always useless at French. My pronunciation is disgraceful. I have no idea. And this is such a simple song.
When I started having lessons again, my teacher promptly asked me to join her Monday Madrigals choir singing, guess what, madrigals. Joy! I love that stuff. At first I thought it would be difficult as I struggle to get out to rehearsal with my first choir once a week, let alone two. But it turns out that’s only once a month, so it’s doable.
The first choir is joining with two other local choirs to sing as a big massed choir for our two-yearly winter festival this year. We are singing the Schubert Mass in G and Vivaldi’s Gloria, among other things. Now, this first choir is flat chat getting ready for our annual concert to be held in April. The massed choir event is in June. The other two choirs who will be joining us have been working on these pieces … we haven’t. We are going to be woefully unprepared. It’s a lot of work.
So I decided I will have to join one of the other choirs as well (the one my singing teacher just happens to be the musical director of) so I can actually learn and rehearse these pieces. That means a second night out during each week.
First choir musical director is not happy I have requested to be moved back to alto.
C’est la vie.