Overseas guests join Peterborough choirs in lockdown rehearsals

Having just celebrated ten years of singing in the city under the direction of visionary choral conductor William Prideaux, and with their much-anticipated performance with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Peterborough Cathedral this September now cancelled, this might have been a real blow.

But from the very beginning of lockdown in March, the choirs have chosen rather to see the unique set of challenges they now face as an opportunity to embrace innovative and game-changing rehearsal techniques which will fundamentally enhance their process long into the future.

With their director and staff now furloughed, members of Peterborough Male Voice Choir and Peterborough Voices are now rehearsing weekly via Zoom with guest directors who so far have included Mark Burstow of Bournemouth Male Voice Choir, Thomas Caplin of the renowned Defrost Youth Choir in Norway and Alessandro Viale, formerly assistant director of the choirs and an Honorary Life President of the Peterborough Sings! charity.

The choirs have also enjoyed a question and answer session with Timothy Wayne-Wright, celebrated countertenor and former member of the King’ Singers, with further similar sessions planned to follow. Online rehearsals are also being rolled out for Peterborough Community Chorus and Peterborough Youth Choir, with plans to continue some of Peterborough Sings!’ educational outreach work, delivered in collaboration with Peterborough Music Hub, in the same way.

Singers prepare for rehearsal with a note-learning app which has long been in use by the choirs and more recently they have supplemented this with various apps which allows singers to collaborate, performing together from their own homes. “Our philosophy hasn’t changed, it’s about continually developing techniques, styles and our own personal performance and contribution to make us and the choir progress individually and collectively…the way we are achieving this is different but we certainly have the technology and the tools to do it,” says Fionna Gamble, of Peterborough Voices.

Personal responsibility and learning are already very much at the heart of the Peterborough Sings! ethos and this is what has enabled the choirs to achieve such a high standard of performance and such an impressive track record of competition wins, most recently at the Huddersfield Mrs Sunderland Festival in February, where they swept the board on ‘choirs day’. Isolation has taken this to the next level so that in future any notion of learning notes in rehearsal will seem very outdated: rehearsal will be for putting the performance into things – because singing is about so much more than just the singing!”

“Our learning process as a choir has had to change drastically over the last few weeks,” says Anna Welsford, of Peterborough Voices. “We have fully embraced the idea that the choir is only as strong as all its individual parts and we have all taken much more responsibility for our own learning and understanding. Moving forward we need to continue to use the strategies that have helped us through this period, concentrating on practising independently using all the tools available to us while always trying to exceed our own expectations.”

With their guest conductors, the choirs continue to explore the philosophy of choral singing and the concept of building a choir from the inside out so that energy comes from each individual member, making for a committed and authentic performance.

“It was such a pleasure to see you all, and to discuss your insightful thoughts and questions,” commented Thomas Caplin, of the Defrost Youth Choir. “You are indeed a learning choir, with an amazing learning conductor!”

Certainly, the choirs could never have predicted the situation they now find themselves in but - like everyone at this time - they are finding a new normal. It’s all about evolution, the survival of the fittest, and if they can come out of this even stronger than they went in, then that will be a very real achievement.

In the words of Kellie Walsh, President of Choral Canada: “If a choir is only about singing and performing, there will be no choir for a while. If choir is about teaching and learning, growing, connecting, community, cultural exploration and transmission, and innovating – we will find a way to have choir.”

When - finally – the choirs get back into the rehearsal room together, they will just fly, and it will be beyond exciting to see what they can do!