Choir People
We recently moved from Washington State to Virginia and last month I rehearsed and sang with the First Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir. It felt strange and wonderful to be singing in person in harmony with a choir — something I hadn’t done since March 2020 due to the pandemic. My husband texted our grown children: “The choir people have found your mother!” I replied: “We have radar.” When I shared this story with my voice student Gene, he said, “Actually, it’s more like sonar.”
I’ve been a choir person for most of my life. My strongest and most lasting friendships have been with choir people, including Jan and Lynn from Clear Lake HS choirs, Barbara from California State University Hayward choirs, and many friends and students in church and community choirs. After many levels of competition, I’ll never forget the thrill of being selected for Texas All State (High School) Choir 1975 as a soprano 1 and performing at TMEA [Texas Music Educators Assn] under the direction of William Hall. A highlight of my singing career was singing with professional choirs Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, Boulder Colorado’s Ars Nova Singers, and Northern Colorado Chamber Choir with conductors Earl Rivers, Tom Morgan, and Howard Skinner. I loved recording professional choral demos in many styles for Lillenas, Hope, and Word publishers with producers Tom Fettke and Joseph Linn in California and John Wilson in Illinois. Many of my grandest adventures have been with choirs, notably touring Europe for three weeks with the San Francisco Bay Area Chamber Choir in 1982 under the direction of Harry Carter, bound for Europa Cantat world choral festival in Namur, Belgium. Other concert stops included Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Holland. I loved performing joint concerts with the Israeli and Swedish choirs and singing in mass choirs with thousands of singers from across the globe.
I never looked at choir as secondary to my solo career. I enjoyed performing as a soprano soloist in operas and with orchestras and choruses and I loved singing in choirs, sometimes more. My favorite experiences were singing with pro choirs where soloists were in-house — singing with the ensemble, then at the appropriate time stepping forward and singing the solo lines. It was a wonderful way to fully integrate the group and solo portions of the work and it kept me out of my head as a soloist. It is quite nerve wracking to be sitting in a pretty (and expensive) gown in front of the choir and orchestra, facing the audience, with the conductor just to the side. Waiting and listening ……..waiting…..then standing to sing the solo. Then sitting and waiting and listening and standing again.
These days, in my 60s, I am very content to be singing in the choir listening to the soloists from the soprano section. I’ve had a couple of symphony solo appearance in the past five years, but I clearly recall singing in the chorus with Mid-Columbia Master Singers about six years ago, watching the Messiah soloist, singing every colorature note of “Rejoice Greatly” in my head and feeling nothing but gratitude for her, and for my own place in the choir.
Some of my oldest voice students are life-long choir singers. Choir keeps them going! Opportunities are now fewer with the demise of many traditional church choirs, but as long as there are still opportunities for choir singers in their 70s, 80s, and 90s they will be in rehearsals on Wednesdays and the choir loft on Sundays. One of my very favorite hymns is “How Can I Keep from Singing?” If I am lucky and healthy, I hope to be singing in the choir, joining my voice with others in harmony for many years to come. After that, I’ve heard stories of a heavenly choir. No audition needed.
— @Cynthia Vaughn 2022