August 7, 2008
Faculty, staff female singers wanted for choir
Where can you get weekly singing lessons, perform three times a year and meet a lot of women who love music as much as you do? The answer is the UW Women’s Choir, which is currently looking for new members.
“Right now the choir is made up largely of undergraduate students,” said Director Jean-Marie Kent. “But I’d like to be able to expand it to women who are on the faculty or staff so as to broaden our community.”
The Women’s Choir meets for two hours every Thursday evening during the academic year and performs at the end of each quarter, usually in combination with other choirs. There’s no audition required, and though it can be taken for academic credit (pass/fail), there’s no tuition if you’re not seeking credit.
Currently there are about 70 women in the choir, only about 5 percent of whom are music majors, Kent said. Choir members come from many different fields, and they include a number of international students from all over the world.
“Most of the members have sung in high school or church choirs before,” Kent said, “but last year I had two women for whom it was the first time they’d ever sung in a choir. They wanted a place where they could try out their voices.”
It’s not necessary to know how to read music coming in to the choir, Kent said; it’s only necessary to have a “good ear.” You’ll learn to read music along the way.
What can you expect at those Thursday evening meetings? According to Kent, a typical session includes introductions, vocal warm-ups and a lot of singing. There’s no homework, unless you count singing every day. “You don’t even have to be singing the material we’re working on,” Kent said. “The idea is just to sing. Singing every day makes a difference. It’s like a muscle that needs exercise.”
The group sings both classical and pop music. Last year the repertoire included I Will Be Earth, by American composer Gwyneth Walker; a chant by Hildegard of Bingen; and Don’t Rain on my Parade, by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne, from the musical Funny Girl.
Particular pieces for the coming year haven’t been chosen yet, but the group will perform light music during the School of Music’s annual Carolfest. And in addition to the performance of that show at Meany Hall, they’ll be singing at Seattle Center. The March concert will feature songs about women’s spirituality and will be performed at St. Mark’s Cathedral in conjunction with the St. Mark’s Women’s Choir and the Mirinesse Women’s Choir. Spring will find the women singing about jilted lovers.
Kent, who is a graduate student in choral conducting, will be keeping the group in mind when she takes a research trip to Italy this month. She’ll be looking at the manuscripts of composer Antonio Vivaldi, the subject of her dissertation, with plans to perform some of his work as part of the March concert.
Kent is a veteran choral conductor who has taught at the elementary, high school and college levels. She has served as musical director for theater companies and community orchestras and hopes to teach at the college level when she finishes her degree, probably next year.
“I love being passionate about music with other people who are passionate about it too,” she said. “It’s that group experience, that we are collaboratively making music, that’s satisfying for me.”
That experience is heightened for her, Kent said, when the choir is all women. She thinks of the Women’s Choir as a community, and makes a point of helping the members get to know each other and share what’s going on in their lives.
“I really feel connected to the women who stand in front of me,” Kent said. “We’re able to talk about subjects that come up in the music, similar experiences we’ve shared because we are women that we then feel or hear in the music. It is a kind of connection that takes longer to develop with a mixed ensemble but is there immediately with women.”
Faculty and staff women interested in becoming part of the choir can simply show up at the first meeting, from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, in 35 Music. Or they can contact Kent at jmkmusic@u.washington.edu .
Another opportunity available, too
There’s another singing opportunity for faculty and staff — both men and women — in the recital choir that meets from 4:30 to
5:20 p.m. each Tuesday and Thursday, led by a graduate student. The student then conducts the choir in a recital that is part of his or her graduate program. Anyone interested should contact Music Professor Geoffrey Boers, boersg@u.washington.edu, for more information.
