On rehearsing our new commission, Part 1: “I, Choir”
Lara: One of the most exciting elements of our 30th Anniversary celebrations this season that Mina and I share with you now, is the commission piece, being written for us by Richard Thomas, the artistic evil genius behind Jerry Springer, The Opera. After having worked previously with this notorious potty-mouth of a composer, there has certainly been an air of curious hubbubadry within the choir over the last few weeks. It was only recently that the first part of Richard’s 3-movement work was completed and released ‘unto the hounds’ as it were, much to our insatiable intrigue. Finally we were to discover the meaning behind numerous post-it note exercises used to write the piece itself, in which we were asked by Richard to answer several specific questions about being in a choir.
Part 1: I, Choir seems indeed to offer an extension of just that: an introduction into the choir as an entity, including what it can express, explore, create, and what it can draw out of an audience. In a style that reminds me somewhat of Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Mr. Thomas has laid down his own simple yet effective modern day highway into the heart and soul of what it means to be a choir.




















