Taplow Youth Choir coaching project
Nicola Corbishley (soprano):
“The Taplow Youth Choir is one of five choirs which will join the Gabrieli Consort & Players for our Prom performance and recording of Mendelssohn's oratorio, Elijah, this summer. On Saturday 25 June, Paul McCreesh, Ashley Riches and I travelled to Berkshire to help with their preparation. I started them off with a general warm-up and it quickly became apparent that this was an enthusiastic and confident group of singers, who were very willing to work hard towards the project. Paul took the tutti rehearsals, encouraging Ashley and me to interject with technical advice wherever appropriate. The singers were keen to try these ideas and responded quickly, and Paul seemed pleased with the results! This format allowed Paul to articulate his ideas to the whole group, whilst Ashley and I listened out for the areas which would need technical work in the sectional rehearsals, which we were to take later in the day. In these detailed sessions, it was good to work with a smaller number of singers (in my case, just the sopranos and altos) and to offer practical tips which would help them to achieve Paul's musical ideas. The Taplow Youth Choir is sure to contribute positively to the Elijah project this summer and I look forward to working with them again.”
Ashley Riches (bass):
“I had a really wonderful time working with Nicola, Paul and the Taplow Youth Choir. I was really amazed at how talented the singers were and how professional they were in their attitude. They responded to Paul extremely well and the improvement from the start of the day to the end was marked. I know from experience how inspiring it is to have someone like Paul come in and it was obvious how much they appreciated what he had to say and how excited they were about the concert. The Prom could well be a life-changing event and it is the sort of experience which may well lead some of them on to a career in music and a life-long love of singing.
It was a great experience for me personally. It's incredibly interesting to see singing training from the other side. I really enjoy taking vocal rehearsals and look forward to doing more in the future.”
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