At the end of April, Corra Sound hosted a unique choral experience for women who love to sing. The purpose of this Come and Sing event was to unite upper voices in solidarity and song, and to introduce new works from our Call for Scores initiative. We were joined by women from all over the South of England, including three of our winning composers, which was really exciting.
“[It was] inspiring and uplifting to be surrounded by such a warm, open-hearted group of singers”
Our workshops are bespoke and designed to be energising, accessible and suitably challenging. We're keen to ensure there's something for everyone, regardless of how experienced (or inexperienced) you feel you might be.
Our April workshop began by exploring physical warm ups and vocal exercises, led by members of Corra Sound, which are so important not only from a vocal health perspective, but in helping us connect and bond with one another. The warm ups surreptitiously incorporated musicianship skills, including solfa, kinaesthetics and rhythmic conducting, and the creation of unique soundscapes. All of these skills fed into the pieces with purpose and design.
Our first piece of the day was Caroline Mallonnee’s beautiful anthem to sisterhood: “Sister walk with me”. This was a gentle and uplifting start to the day, giving up the opportunity to hone our listening, ensemble and finger clicking skills!
This was followed by Caroline Tyler’s tender piece “8 Months old”. While this piece presented a musical challenge with soundscapes and exposed vocal parts to negotiate, everyone embraced the music wholeheartedly and it was immensely special to have Caroline with us, introducing us to the text and articulating her intentions for the piece. Singing it through with us, she commented on how different it was to approach the piece as a vocalist, rather than her usual capacity of a composer and pianist, but she relished the experience - as we did, having her in our midst. She added:
“Amy and Corra Sound created an environment that felt consistently high energy and inspiring through the day, as well as a safe and uplifting place to be and to sing.”
Next, we rehearsed Alexandra Olsavsky’s fabulously powerful “What happens when a woman takes power?”. This was excellently introduced by our very own Alexander Technique expert, Joanna Sleight, who approached the topic of power from a philosophical stand point. This rhythmic and energetic piece got us all moving and even imitating ski jumps to achieve the body percussion groove!
After a well-earned lunch, we once again took flight, with composer and our newest Corra recruit, Amanda Dean, sharing insights into her thrilling piece "Air, Heart", written about Amelia Earhart - the world famous female aviator. Delving into the text “failure must be but a challenge”, we played around with cross rhythms and aeroplane noises, while our youngest attendee Lydia held us all together with the E flat boomwhackers!
Rounding off the day, Barbara Cobham, composer of "Hope is the thing" shared the emotive and powerful inspiration for her piece, speaking with great sensitivity, openness and emotional depth. This beautiful composition was written for a young family member, who sadly lost her battle with cancer only weeks before the workshop. We sang the soaring melodies with a new-found compassion and our voices resounded ever more fervently against the injustice of losing loved ones. Barbara said:
“It was a beautiful and precious moment sharing "Hope Is The Thing..." at the Corra Sound workshop and being part of a live performance. I found it inspiring and uplifting to be surrounded by such a warm, open-hearted group of singers.”
What a glorious day we had getting to know one another and breathe life into these new works! How honoured we are that we can bring such powerful and evocative music to life through these events, and to share that joy with our audiences. Thank you to all those who joined us and lifted your voices in song with us.
Corra Sound’s aim is to share the binding heart, joy and community of choral music making, which can transform, inform, enlighten, enable and empower us all. And on this particular day, it felt as though we had indeed achieved that mission.
If you’d like us to deliver this workshop, or a bespoke session for your choir, group or community,
please do take a look at our Workshop webpage and get in touch to find out more.
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