Workplace Singing? You're hired!

On Monday we headed to Pimlico to sing but, rather than attending our usual rehearsal halls, we stopped just short at St Saviour's Church to take part in a vocal CPD workshop for choral facilitators, run by the London Youth Choir.

It was lovely to be in a room full of people just as passionate about group singing as we are. In amongst sharing skills and ideas with peers, we were tutored by Greg Beardsell and Rachel Staunton, two of the brightest lights in choral leadership.

The workshop reinforced the value of engaging our mind with our breath, voice and body and those around us when singing, not just as a vocal tool but a social one; levelling the group and casting out external worries, focusing you on the task and sharing in the same exercise. 

All of this is at the forefront of our work with Starling Arts and how we nurture communities, whether new or existing, to be creative, confident and supportive of one another. 

Following an excellent rehearsal with our choir Corvida last night - excellent because our singers not only sang and performed brilliantly, but engaged in all of the above qualities - I returned home to watch the latest episode of The Apprentice. Focusing on Corporate Away Days, the two teams had to devise a day of team building and motivational exercises for major clients, the winner being the team who provided not just a profitable session for themselves, but a satisfying and useful session for their client. The exercises chosen - wine tasting, cupcake decorating, archery, etc - may have been fun in their own right, but what surprised me, and indeed Lord Sugar, was how the majority of candidates seemed to link these tasks so tenuously to the business objectives set-out by the client. 

Away Days are about team-building, leadership, confidence, focus and communication, all qualities which can be developed through group singing. Starling Arts offer bespoke sessions which provide just that for businesses (click here to find out more). Delegates need no prior experience to sing, just a voice! And regardless of the vocal quality, the personal satisfaction and achievement that comes from group singing is at the root of why it works; perhaps The Apprentice candidates should have got in touch with us? 

Next month a new book by Stacy Horn is to be published. 'Imperfect Harmony: Finding Happiness in Singing With Others' charts Horn's time with a community choir she joined after her divorce. In a recent interview with Ari Shapiro and guest Daniel Levitin (author of 'This is Your Brain on Music'), Horn quotes a paper she read which explained how "Group singing and performance can produce satisfying and therapeutic sensations, even when the sound produced by the vocal instrument is of mediocre quality." Once again, you don’t need prior experience (or Adele's vocal cords) to sing together, and it is exactly this point which I hope will fend off any skeptics who might favour wine-tasting or chocolate making over a good sing when it comes to corporate away days.  As Daniel Levitin highlights in the interview, there are proven neurochemical rewards gained from group singing, principally the release of oxytocin, the 'friendship chemical'. Friendship is the cornerstone of a strong community, be it a choir, business, school or society.

See the power of group singing in action at our concert Abracadabra next month, and get in touch if you would like Starling Arts to sing with you and your workplace. 

- Anna

The Musical Theatre Voice

Emily reflects on the musical theatre voice in the mass music market

I was intrigued by the results of this poll in this week’s edition of The Stage newspaper:

Could a performer trained in musical theatre ever win the TV Talent show The Voice?

Nearly half, 48.1%, said No.

I’m shocked that so many answering this poll - especially given The Stage's readership of people working in the theatre industry – believe that someone whose training has been in Musical Theatre has a handicap. Does this type of vocal training somehow put singers at a disadvantage in a mainstream competition, against many other singers who may not have had any training at all? Or is it merely the public perception of the 'musical theatre voice' that leads the critics to question the musical star's ability to win? 

It’s clear that success in Musical Theatre hasn’t traditionally led to success in the pop world (although we can name many pop stars who’ve made the opposite move from the charts to the stage). On last year’s series of The Voice, millions of viewers watched Kerry Ellis, arguably the first lady of musical theatre in the UK, fail to catch the attention of the ‘coaches’. Her album Anthems released in 2010 didn't set the pop charts alight. Her disappointment might reflect that the musical theatre ‘voice’ isn’t one that naturally appeals to the mass pop market. Kerry admitted in the show’s interview footage that her decision to audition was ‘a risk’, but one that ‘could really change things’ for her. But as Tom Jones gave feedback that Kerry had obviously already made it with her successful career in musicals, he seemed to question that with such an impressive list of leading roles, there couldn’t be much Kerry be searching for with her singing. 

Being a leading lady in the West End (and indeed Broadway!) would appear to be the pinnacle of a successful singing career, so what attracts singers already working on the stage to try for a TV show like The Voice? The resounding phrase used by the successful musical theatre singers auditioning for this year’s series has been a career as a recording artist.

Alex Buchanan, who has been appearing in Thriller Live, had the coaches battling for him, with Jessie J victoriously gaining him as one of her ‘artists’. However, according to the show’s BBC website, Alex has never had any training and sings Michael Jackson rather than Andrew Lloyd Webber.  So perhaps the musical theatre purists might argue he isn’t in the ‘trained in musical theatre’ category – perhaps Alex has a better chance as a result!

Another notable musical star making it to the ‘battle rounds’ this year is Liam Tamne, a recent Enjolras in Les Miserables, and alumni of both Wicked and Hairspray – who seems set on achieving his dream of becoming a recording artist. Tamne trained at Laine Theatre Arts - will this prevent him from being victorious in The Voice? Will.i.am look-alike Matt Henry is another musical theatre contender, with an impressive biog listing a number of roles and covers. Is there more than the call of a record contract that makes Liam and Matt want to hang up their jazz shoes for a place in the pop charts?

I can only speculate, but I’m sure attractions include: writing your own music; the creativity that replicating the same performance for up to 7 performances a week doesn’t fulfill; a very different kind of limelight; money; the next notch up on the fame level; swopping the dusty back stages and shared dressing rooms of the West End for fancy greenrooms and riders might be on the list. Perhaps it’s just a curiosity of making a different kind of music that attract auditionees – after all, many West End performers grow up with theatre schools and ‘Am Dram’ – pop doesn’t have the breadth of ‘training’, so it’s easy to see why so many musical singers stick to what they know.

Not every voice is a ‘recording voice’ capable of world fame, but I just can’t see a good reason why a singer originally trained in musical theatre can’t put their hand to a successful career as a ‘recording artist’. Musical singers are often the most flexible type - straddling different style for every show, and using strong vocal technique to get them through several shows a week. Whether a singer who has trained in musical theatre will win The Voice or not stands to be seen, but I hope that there is some success for these singers, who are brave pioneers, flying the flag for the talent in the musical theatre world. 

- Emily 

We’d love to hear your thoughts - can a musical theatre singer win The Voice? Leave us a comment below or tweet us @starlingarts

Oh Happy Days

Whether it was the whiff of record breaking in the air, the sun in the sky, or the Real Food Festival crammed full of people, Sunday at the Chorus Festival was even more buzzing than Saturday and felt like theplace to be over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Nestled amongst the food stalls along the Queen's Walk was a live stage to showcase some of the choirs taking part in the Chorus Festival. From famous choral franchises like Rock Choir, to lesser known groups from Ireland, Italy and beyond, the stage hosted a great range of repertoire and talent across the day, and most significantly (for us) the Unity Gospel Choir performed here.

Formed last year by Jon Bint, one of Anna's old choir directors, Unity comprises of singers aged 9 - 60+ from across west Devon. Due to the rural nature of the choir's catchment area, the choir operates parallel rehearsals between the Devon towns of Hatherleigh and Chagford (where we hold our annual Summer School).

This rurality is one of the reasons we offer our services in Chagford each summer; whilst there is a thriving community spirit, residents are deprived of opportunities on account of their location. There is a real need to provide high-quality extra-curricular opportunities in communities like this, where young people might not have easy access to the services offered in larger towns/cities due to limited public transport and/or having to rely on their parents to drive them a considerable distance to access them. The Unity Gospel Choir is testament to communities like this working in action to share skills with all ages, and is the perfect celebration of 'Neighbourhood'; even more fitting for this festival.

Indoors, the Clore Ballroom was host to GVE (the Goldsmiths Vocal Ensemble) presenting an hour and half set of music with artists like ESKA, and proved that 'choral' music need not be religious or classical, as the word 'choir' seems to denote for some. Casting an eye over the Choir Biographies in the programme, the range of repertoire and styles represented across the Chorus Festval offered something for every taste; there really is a choir for everyone out there.

Starling Arts' Anna & Emily study the Chorus programme

Come evening we were witness to choral history being made at the

London Community Gospel Choir

30th anniversary concert. Their energetic and galvanizing performance featured special guest appearances from X Factor finalist Jahméne Douglas and legendary singer Jocelyn Brown. 

The concert culminated in a successful Guinness World Record attempt for the largest number of people in a gospel choir singing together in a concert, with 1169 voices uniting in song. We loved the choice of 'Oh Happy Day' (made famous in the movie Sister Act 2) because the crowd could join in (and we could do our bit to sing along!). Our cheering was loudest for our Devon friends from Unity Gospel Choir who were one of 30 gospel groups participating. Watch two of our regular Summer School participants talk about their experience to Anna here...

The evening proved more than anything that music has the power to bring people together.  We were up in our seats dancing with a packed out Royal Festival Hall, everyone present lifted by soulful voices and a love of music. We always say that faith doesn't have to be a 'religious' thing, and any music lover can appreciate gospel music, whatever their own beliefs. Faith in music is just as powerful, and something that we at Starling Arts believe in. As we carry on preparations for our summer concert Abracadabra we will try and replicate some of the commitment and passion we saw from LCGC and their guest choirs!     

Check out this video clip of the record-breaking 'Oh Happy Day'!

Anna & Emily

Neighbours in Song

Something wonderful is happening at the Southbank Centre this weekend - the Chorus Festival.

Launching the Festival of Neighbourhood, the Chorus Festival celebrates the art of singing together, something which Starling Arts identifies with and strongly endorses. 

The festival programme explains that 'Singing is at the heart of neighbourhoods across the world and Southbank Centre is no exception'. We couldn't agree more. With Starling Arts, we have created our own 'neighbourhood' with our community of choirs in London, and love going to sing with existing communities in schools and businesses.

Another community we have a close relationship with is Chagford in Devon (where we hold our annual youth Summer School). Chagford's Gospel Choir will be performing on the Southbank tomorrow (Sunday 5th May) as part of the festival and will be joining the world-famous London Community Gospel Choir in the evening, celebrating LCGC’s 30th Anniversary and hoping to break the Guinness World Record for the largest massed gospel choir sing (with well over 1000 singers performing), and we can't wait to support them!

We had the privilege of joining with hundreds of voices this afternoon singing in the Big Festival Opener outside the Royal Festival Hall. Having enjoyed an excellent vocal warm-up with the legendary Mary King in the morning, we attended a short rehearsal and an hour later were part of a choir with a bunch of strangers, all of whom were now our neighbours in song. 

What we love about singing is that everyone can do it. As Jude Kelly, artistic director of the Southbank Centre said in her opening address today, 'everyone who has a voice can sing', and we couldn't agree more. It's the one instrument we all have in us which is completely FREE to use. We love that this has been reflected in the programming of the Chorus Festival, much of which is free or very cheap to attend and enjoy.

We've always been fans of the Southbank Centre and how it encourages anyone into to its spaces, whether they're attending an event, having a coffee or doing a spot of work overlooking the river. The Chorus Festival has embraced this perfectly, with Choral Platforms for various choirs dotted about around the foyer spaces, Trading Stations for choirs to teach the public their favourite repertoire and workshops with inspiring choral leaders like Tim Rhys-Evans, Tim Sutton and Mary King being housed in the various auditoria. The venue is abuzz with singing and music, and it's a wonderful atmosphere to be a part of. 

Check back for another post on the Chorus Festival from us on Monday 6th May. 

Anna & Emily

The Chorus Festival runs from May 4th - 6th 2013 at London’s Southbank Centre.