Whitacre Meets Roan: my year with the National Youth Choir so far

Observing the National Youth Choir (15-18 Years) spring course

You could be forgiven for assuming that “observing” a National Youth Choir course is a passive activity, however: it’s anything but! From the moment I arrived there was music to sing through, singers to chat with and, of course, the all important daily dancercise sessions to take part in. I also had the opportunity to lead a warm-up and, as a lifelong lover of pop and gospel music, I was so excited to be able to incorporate aspects of both of these styles into a morning sing with over 100 incredible young voices.

While the days were long, we wound down in the evenings with some cracking socials, including an engineering challenge consisting of building a spaghetti and marshmallows. I’m almost (but absolutely not actually) ashamed to admit that the EPA team showed no mercy and took the prize with a vertiginously high bridge (/podium/statue?).

Working on the SING! Programme

I’ve had the pleasure of working in Birmingham on the SING! programme this spring, teaching on a series of sessions designed to introduce secondary aged pupils to group singing and creating a pathway towards auditioning for the National Youth Choir for those interested.

Years 7 & 8 are an age group I didn’t have lots of experience working with at the start of the programme so I was really looking forward to learning on the job and this did not disappoint! Alongside acquiring several brilliant warm-ups and exercises to add to my list (you can never have too many!), it was inspiring watching the Project Lead Matt Roughley get such a large number of young people enthused so quickly and with so much ease.

As we worked with the same group of young people over several months it was amazing to see the growth in enthusiasm and confidence, particularly from some pupils who began the experience certain that singing wasn’t for them but by the end were some of the keenest contributors. It really set my mental cogs whirring and gave me so many ideas for youth engagement through singing which has been invaluable over the last few months as I’ve set up a new youth choir in my city.

Summer course with National Youth Choir (15-18 Years)

The summer provided an opportunity for an even more immersive insight into the National Youth Choir: the chance to work on the music team for the summer residential for the 15-18s. I quickly learned that a National Youth Choir concert programme never disappoints: the theme was Elements and alongside stunning existing pieces fitting within the categories of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, the singers devised incredible improvisations in smaller groups which they then taught to their peers.

Witnessing this level of creativity and cooperation was really moving and by the time the concert came around it really felt as though the singers had woven themselves into the fabric of the music. Two further pieces I discovered on the course that I’ll treasure for a very long time are Eric Whitacre’s Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine and (former NYC Young Composer) Anna Disley-Simpson’s The Way Through The Woods. The latter was a piece I had the chance to conduct in a full rehearsal and once again the opportunity to direct so many talented singers singing such a breathtaking piece is a moment I consider a really formative one in my journey over the last year towards my hopeful future as a full-time music director.

In addition to the music, the seminars throughout the week on musicianship (led by Charlotte Galloway who was on vocal rest at the time but somehow taught in the most concise, informative way I’ve possibly ever seen??) and vocal health and hormonal changes with Charlotte Mobbs left me frantically scribbling notes that I’m coming back to months later on a very regular basis!

The course also gave me the chance to share my love of incorporating contemporary pop into choral teaching and starting the day with a Chappell Roan-themed warm up of The Subway never does anyone any harm! Sharing the week with several of my fabulous peers on the EPA scheme was really special and a great opportunity to compare notes on what we’d taken away from the year so far.

Other highlights of the Emerging Professional Artists scheme

It would be really difficult to distill the year so far purely into moments as I’ve felt the benefits pretty consistently since starting the programme, however other great activities we’ve got up to include learning the ropes on notation software Dorico from the team behind the software and understanding just how much potential there is when it comes to notating vocal music; looking around the offices of music publisher Stainer & Bell and learning all about the process of having your music published; attending a conducting day at the Royal Academy of Music and getting time on the podium under the guidance of Nicholas Chalmers and so many more amazing opportunities.

I’m so excited for what the rest of the year holds and if you have any doubts about applying, I really encourage you to put them aside and give it a go!