By Peeter Sild (from the bass section)
It’s the first choir practice of the year. In a way it feels like the first day of a new year at high school. Who are the new people coming into the class? What is the new choral director going to be like? What are the new songs we will be singing? All these thoughts are bouncing around in my head as I drive out to Huntsville High School, with anticipation of what is to come. As I turn into the parking lot the familiarity returns and I greet members returning and introduce myself to new singers. I count at least a dozen new people as they settle into their sections. Good news! – the tenor section has been bolstered by four.
John, current president of the executive, leads us through the basics and introduces the new choir director Louis Tusz to the members. Louis takes us on a musical journey by demonstrating what a conductor does to communicate to the choir during a performance. It is not the theatrical antics you may have seen in movies. Rather it is very subtle and low key so as not to draw attention away from the performance. Simply put, the left hand maintains the beat while the right hand signals entry points for solos and important passages.
Louis asks us to hum and we go through the scale touching on different notes to warm up our vocal cords. At one point it sounds to me like a swarm of bees. I innocently ask what note a swarm of bees would create. Pause . . . everyone is looking and waiting for the punch line. “I’m serious,” I say. One member shares that there is a specific note the swarm creates but could not remember it. (The queen bee makes a frequency called piping which is a G# and the swarm frequency is approximately B flat.)
So a new year has started and we go through the program of songs – some familiar and some new to me – a group of individual singers working towards cohesion as a choir under the guidance of our new director for the Christmas concert.
A new start and certainly music to my ears!
The Huntsville Community Choir meets Tuesday evenings at Huntsville High School. New members are welcome. For more information visit huntsvillecommunitychoir.com.
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