North East Youth Chorale coaching project
Robert Evans (bass):
“I have just spent a pleasant day as a vocal coach for the North East Youth Chorale, working on Mendelssohn's Elijah. We were in the Methodist Chapel Hall in Chester-le-Street, which proved to be an excellent venue. Paul McCreesh took the rehearsals - giving the choristers the context of each chorus and working on interpretation. Kim Porter and I gave vocal technical input as appropriate and also took sectional rehearsals either side of lunch.
The NEYC director, John Forsyth, had taught them the notes well, so our job was all the easier – we were able to concentrate on voice production and ensemble.
I was hugely impressed by the mature attitude of the choristers; they remained focussed all day and didn't flag during 6 hours of rehearsal. Paul's energy is infectious/exhausting, so all had to concentrate to keep up with him.
It is a credit to John that such a choir, only founded recently, was able to sing so well together and with such spirit. John has obvious passion for his choir, he has good support, excellent accompanists, and one really felt great excitement from a choir which is going to go from strength to strength. It was an honour to stand in front of them. I look forward to joining them again on the platform of the Royal Albert Hall.”
Kim Porter (alto):
“The North East Youth Chorale was formed only relatively recently by their wonderful conductor John Forsythe, MBE, but there is already a huge sense of warmth and friendship between the singers which I noticed as soon as I walked into the rehearsal. The Methodist Hall in Chester-Le-Street is a gem of a venue to sing in with masses of light and a good clean acoustic.
The focus of our work through the day was very much on the text of the Elijah choruses, both in the meaning of the words that are set and in their clarity which is really vital in this piece with such a vast orchestra to sing over!
Working with the Sopranos and Altos on my own in the afternoon gave us an opportunity to look at blending in some of the more exposed sections. Because it was right in the middle of some of their exams the sopranos were a little thin on the ground but everyone there worked really hard.
It was great to see such committed singing going on in County Durham and as a local lass, I hope I'll get to work with them again some time.”