Having just successfully completed the ‘Discovering Hidden Voices’ short course I felt compelled to write this short post to express my gratitude to Marouska Attard and SCJ for the continuous support I have received these past 8 weeks.
I have been an avid fan of the choir for the past few years, always trying to get my hands on a couple of tickets the minute I hear about a concert. Being a lover of choral music myself, I have always wondered what it must feel like to be part of a choir, to feel the resonance and the harmony of voices. One can only imagine my surprise when one fine day I learned that the choir was offering an 8-week vocal training course.
I have to admit that I was a bit hesitant at first, especially considering that I practically had zero singing experience. After a little encouragement from my friends, some being choir member themselves, I decided to sign up for the course.
A few weeks later we were called to attend an initial introductory session in order to discuss the course plan and get to know the group. We were also auditioned individually in order to have our singing voices and music knowledge assessed. As much as I hate to admit I felt helpless and discombobulated during the audition, this was my first ‘performance’ after all! I am still thankful to this day at the words of encouragement and welcome I received from Marouska during the interview session. After the audition, I felt encouraged that somehow in the next few weeks I would be able to bring out my ‘hidden singing voice’.
The lessons were always held in the evening at a convenient time for the group. We had an initial warm-up session followed by singing and music theory, which is essential for understanding and appreciating the music. One topic I found particularly fascinating was the biology behind the human voice and sound production. Marouska was always willing to answer our queries and help us in any way possible to learn and work better as a team.
I feel I have benefitted a lot from the past few weeks both on a personal and professional level, after all a choir is an organised group of people working together to achieve a common goal, that is to create beautiful music. Going forward, now that I have been accepted as part of the SCJ family, I am striving to improve in order to give my utmost. I believe I can do it!
