A total of sixteen hours of rehearsals spanning three days, singing in our respective voices and, perhaps most importantly, being together at (long) last, polishing our performance in sections and working on our voice emission with a professional voice teacher. Add to that a barbecue, a bonfire, a karaoke, board games and dancing, and you’ll have an inkling of the fun we had in Gołkowice Górne, in the JordaNova resort, who welcomed us just as warmly as they did last year.
The primary purpose of this weekend workshop was working on our new repertoire. We made a start on it already in winter, only to be stalled by the pandemic that kept us from rehearsing, though not from singing – if you haven’t seen our virtual choir recording, do it now. We missed practicing our songs in all four voices, however, and in Gołkowice, we could finally pick up the pace. We don’t want to show our hand now but rest assured – you will hear a brand-new set of songs that are quite different from what you’ve been used to in our Queerovision and pre-COVID concerts (see here and here).
Like we said, we missed singing together and each other’s company – so much that in the evenings, we didn’t spare our overworked vocals, sitting by the fire and singing to the sounds of the guitar and ukulele, or doing a joint karaoke. On one occasion, we sang our five years’ worth of songs in one go, reminiscing the past concerts in Poland and abroad in between singing. It was amazing how after all those years, we still remembered both the melodies and lyrics, and so many details of the performances!
Apart from Leo, our conductor, who conducted the section rehearsals of tenors and basses as well as joint rehearsals with her usual passion and enthusiasm, we were helped by Konia, who took the sopranos and altos under her wing. She taught us a lot, not just enjoyable vocal warmups (some of us still do little raps about wallpaper
Apart from Leo, our conductor, who conducted the section rehearsals of tenors and basses as well as joint rehearsals with her usual passion and enthusiasm, we were helped by Konia, who took the sopranos and altos under her wing. She taught us a lot, not just enjoyable vocal warmups (some of us still do little raps about wallpaper
This year, we were also accompanied by a professional voice teacher, Agata Kuliś. Helpful and charming, she showed us how to work on our sound as a choir and in voice sections, and instructed us on individual voice emission in groups of three. Her classes were not only tons of fun but were unique opportunities to learn that there’s no point worrying about a silly face when singing (yes, one does look silly when singing properly!) and that sometimes, the best way to beat stage fright is simply to f--- erm, let it go 😉.
When not singing, we chilled out in hammocks, beach chairs and on blankets – despite rainy weather forecasts, the sun did peek here and there through the trees and into our rehearsal halls.
When not singing, we chilled out in hammocks, beach chairs and on blankets – despite rainy weather forecasts, the sun did peek here and there through the trees and into our rehearsal halls.
Naturally, this whole great outing would not have happened at all if it weren’t for Adam, one of our lead tenors, who once again took the burden of management upon himself, making sure everything was perfect. Three cheers for Adam!
We had a great time and charged our batteries full of rainbow energy. We can’t help to share the effects of our work (which we will continue in the upcoming months) with you, our brilliant audience. See you in the spring and stay tuned!
We had a great time and charged our batteries full of rainbow energy. We can’t help to share the effects of our work (which we will continue in the upcoming months) with you, our brilliant audience. See you in the spring and stay tuned!