Thirteen members of Souldern Church Choir took part in a choral workshop on Saturday under the direction of Judith Sheridan, an opera soloist, voice coach and choir master who has studied extensively on how the voice works and has years of experience in coaching aspiring singers.
The day began by listening to a varied selection of singing from around the world including many styles of folk music, opera, classical, pop, and jazz and a discussion about the different methods of voice production used to achieve these desired effects.
This was followed by a detailed description of the anatomy of voice production, and Judy demonstrated how singers can alter tone and volume, and how to achieve a greater range of notes. She also explained why we appear to run out of breath when singing and passed on other practical hints and tips.
The voice exercises which followed after lunch caused much hilarity as we experimented under Judy’s direction with whimpering, crying, wailing, shouting, quacking, mooing, cackling, yawning and several renditions of the laughing policeman – used to demonstrate the huge variety of sounds and effects that we are all capable of producing.
The final part of the day was spent in working in detail through several pieces of music that are being studied by the choir, working with the four voice parts and “fine tuning” the works in progress.
The choir would like to thank Judy for her friendly and encouraging tuition, Iain and Mary Porteus for their organization, accompaniment and refreshments and Souldern United Charities and Souldern PCC for subsidizing a most enjoyable and informative day.
If anyone is interested in joining the choir, please contact the Benefice Office - no previous experience necessary!
Dawn Malins