Opening Ourselves to Experience

“This is what choir is meant to feel like.” As cheesy as that nostalgic line may sound, this comment has stuck with me since Chamber Singers completed its weeklong intensive this Friday. After four days of sectionals, team building, vocology training, and straw phonation, the Chamber Singers have transformed into a well-oiled machine, equipped with superb sight-singing skills and prepared to tackle the new year. But apart from the exceptional strides we have made this week in technique and sound, I’m most astounded by how quickly we have been able to form a personal connection with one another. This year we welcomed eight new Chamber Singers to the ensemble, including two first-year students; and in just four days, we became a family. “How is this possible?” you may ask. While I think the cooperative nature of choral singing has certainly brought all of us closer, I believe it’s our vulnerability that has helped form our little community in such a short amount of time. By the end of the week, we were not afraid to miss a note or mispronounce a word because we trusted our fellow singers and, most importantly, because we felt comfortable in our own bodies and our rehearsal space. We opened ourselves to the experience; and in the process, we became a family.

-Adam Ouellet ’16

Comments are closed.