On Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th October I sang with the Tideswell Male Voice Choir at The Plaza Theatre and The Buxton Opera House alongside seven young vocalists and the original Military Wives Choir.
I had to manage my final practice sessions whilst feeling a little under the weather and on the Saturday afternoon I attempted to sing, perform and manage the rehearsals full voice.
I learnt later that evening that I should have taken Dame Jones advice from earlier in the week to sing half voice in rehearsal to preserve my voice as I was exhausted at the end and had to rely on the microphone more than I normally would.
You have to ‘construct your own learning and not be dictated to’ said Mr J Simon Van Der Walt a lecturer at the RCS in the week. So what did I learn?
The first half finale was ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ with the whole cast, I could not see Dennis conducting and that was a mistake, I made a note to ensure I could see him at Buxton.
I read more about Eponine following my Gasworth Hall performance in preparation for the Les Mis Spectacular in the second half so that I could get the emotion right, I had great audience feedback after the show and several people told me it brought a tear to their eye. On reflection if I had a head microphone I’d like to sing ‘A Little Fall of Rain’ lying down with with my shoulders propped up against Marius (Matthew) who would be kneeling, I think it would be even more moving that way, its hard to die standing up 😉 .
I used some of the comments my blogger friends had said about my performances of ‘Art is Calling for Me’, that Dennis had asked me to sing in the Saturday program, to improve my vocals including crisper consonants. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance, my Dad video recorded it for me to review – I must say the tiara adds a special something. I sang this song for my Grade 8 vocal exam and I really love it I just hope that comes over. I have written a full review in my notebook so that when I look back at my performances I can remember what I need to work on to improve them further.
The finale was ‘Do you hear the people sing’ its a fabulous song to sing with a full stage of vocalists it really makes your blood pump and heart lift.
I had a lie in on the Sunday morning and my parents cooked me Sunday roast for Noon which gave me loads of new energy as the days rehearsals were to start at 1:30 pm about 1 hour from home. I sang more quietly on the Sunday afternoon to preserve my voice. The acoustics in the Opera House were fabulous.
That evening I was singing ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’ and a duet with Marcus Kitchen also a vocalist from the RCS our first public outing of ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ unfortunately we could not record any of the songs at Buxton.
There was a lovely review in the Derbyshire times :
“Charlotte Hoather, a vocal music student of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, gave a dazzling performance of Time To Say Goodbye, sung in Italian and English, before an equally powerful and moving rendition of O Mio Babbino Caro.”
“Top solos came from Charlotte Hoather who gave an emotionally-charged performance as Eponine, singing On My Own and A Little Fall Of Rain”
Here is a copy of my performance with Matthew Mellor of “A Little Fall of Rain” from the Stockport Plaza.
Following the concert at the Stockport Plaza I went to talk to some of the Army Medical reservists who had been so supportive of the event. With their help it was a great success the charities they support all benefited from the amazing evening with the help of the Tideswell Male Voice choir, the Military Wives choir and these wonderful volunteers.
