Welcome To The Family!

Well, the first three weeks of term are out of the way, and the new members have now formally joined the Pinkies. As I mentioned previously, it has been a bit of an odd season already, particularly since the interest this year has been so strong that we couldn't really accomodate everyone who wanted to join. The final tally came to 35 people who expressed an interest, 29 people who actually came to the rehearsals and 2 people who decided that the choir was not for them (it is a huge commitment!) So of the 27 who were voice-checked we could offer places to 21, as that takes us to the full complement of 18 per section, or 72 in total.

On Sunday I just couldn't believe how large the choir looked. On that day alone the tenors occupied three rows, and the number of newbies nearly outnumbered the oldies in that section. And they were all incredibly talented as well. I sat next to a young bloke called Oliver who quite easily sang through Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day without problems, and some of the new tenors like Gareth, Simon and Tom have outstanding voices.

This does have significant implications for our voice checks of course. As Michael De says, our voice checks are just that - they check whether you can hit a note and what your range is. They also reveal whether you have insight into any errors you may make, and whether you can learn to correct them. These are the basics of being in a choir which are essential to all singing members. However, we are not a pro choir, and we do not have auditions where traits such as vocal quality are assessed. That said, even based on the simple criteria we do use it is possible to see who has a better range and who learns the music faster and is more self-aware, and in the situation facing us this season, with a limited number of places, these things do count.

I am very happy for the newbies who made it through to the singing group, and I am sure they are elated about it - I know I was. However, I think my heart really goes to those whose vocal range was just that little bit too narrow, or whose notes were just that tiny bit off, to join the choir. In no way does this reflect on them; it is just a result of the overall higher standards this season.

The other thing to reiterate as well is that while one would assume that the choir is just about singing it is not. We have a very active social scene which encompasses the non-singing members of our choir as well. This includes all those people who help with staging the concerts and organizing events, the 'choir camels', as Martin (Philip R's other half) refers to them. And who is to say that next season there won't be more opportunities for the non-singing members to join the singing group?

Welcome, singing and non-singing members to the Pink Singers family! We are very pleased to have you here.