By Hilary. As a singer, you’ll enjoy a unique and rewarding experience in a chamber music course.

When I was at the Royal Academy we singers sat on a different table in the canteen from the other instrumentalists. It USED to be that singers weren’t thought of as proper musicians perhaps because anyone can open their mouth and make sounds – sometimes very beautiful ones – without necessarily being able to read music. I believe Pavarotti was one such. There may still be singers like that but many are excellent musicians. On my first visit to Holiday Music as an amateur pianist I was delighted to find there was a choir conducted by the wonderful singer, Raphaela Papadakis. We sang a variety of short pieces. There was no pressure and having fun was the priority. There was a mixture of folk, pop and classical. Clearly many instrumentalists also enjoy singing! With Danielle Salamon’s love of singers and singing there has been encouragement to broaden the inclusion of singing in the course so we now have a vocal soiree at some point in the course. This evening has included barbershop pieces and, for singers with classical training, duets and trios from opera and the song repertoire.
With such a variety of instruments being played on the course, there is also the opportunity for more experienced singers to tackle songs or arias with obbligato instruments in the accompaniment, e.g. The Brahms songs for Contralto with Piano and Viola or Cello, Schubert’s Soprano showpiece, ’Shepherd on the Rock’ with Clarinet and Piano, and of course so many arias from Bach cantatas.
Holiday Music courses are all about making music with others. Maybe you are a singer who would welcome the chance to sing duets, trios or quartets? Or you might be an instrumentalist who sings in a choir now or who used to do more singing and you would like to revisit using your voice without too much exposure? Maybe you like the idea of spending a few days singing madrigals, barbershop or other ensemble singing along with exploring your main instrument. Earlier I mentioned being a student at the Royal Academy of Music. It was for me not an altogether positive experience but I did make a good friend – a soprano, Cheryl Hawkins, with whom, together with the wonderful pianist, Kate Elmitt, I formed the trio which we called Cavatina. We discovered together so much duet repertoire and the pleasure of singing with one or more other singers has never left me even though my colleagues changed over the years and ultimately the name of the ensemble became Flamin’ Dames!