This is part of a series of reflections as I take on the role of Musical Director for the Madrid International Choir, a non-religious English speaking choir in the heart of Madrid.
From A-Z and around the globe
After months of planning we finally had the answer to the questions which have been so much on our minds as the choir re-formed after a 2 year pause:
Where will we rehearse?
What music will we sing?
And, most importantly: who will join the choir?
Our rehearsal venue, St George’s church in the city centre, is not only a beautiful building with an attractive garden, we found it has a perfect acoustic for choral singing, and there were some moments of magic as we discovered what a beautiful sound we made.
Our opening repertoire features peace and hope, with Dona Nobis Pacem as a round and Curtis Mayfield’s People Get Ready. We have plenty of music for the rest of the season, and a short discussion among the singers showed that variety will be the key to our future programming.
We ended up being short of space on our “stage” area as singers kept arriving, both new members and those who were in the choir before the long pause. We are truly an international choir, with singers from Spain, Venezuela, Australia, Austria, USA, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Wales, Scotland and England. The age range was equally interesting, from university students to those enjoying retirement, and all ages in between.
Some singers were not able to attend our first rehearsal, due to work, holiday travels or family commitments. We look forward to welcome more new members at future rehearsals.
I hope you will join us.
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