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Chris Rowbury's Blog Entries

  • Dealing with individual singers in a large choir

    Added December 3, 2014 by Chris Rowbury - 1421 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]     This post is part of a series of occasional Questions and Answers. Just use the contact form if you want to submit a question.   Morning Star asks:   “What do you do with your big chorus, when there are some folks that ha... read more

  • Now THAT’S what I call singing! Volume 2

    Added November 26, 2014 by Chris Rowbury - 1556 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Last week in Now THAT’S what I call singing! Volume 1 I shared some of my favourite songs from Europe: Corsica, Georgia, Russian orthodox, gypsy, the Balkans and Bulgaria.     This week it’s the turn of the rest of the wor... read more

  • Now THAT’S what I call singing! Volume 1

    Added November 19, 2014 by Chris Rowbury - 1493 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Last week I wrote about the kinds of singing that I like (I may not know much about music, but I know what I like!).     Now I want to give you some concrete examples of the kinds of singing that I love. This week Europe: Corsica, Geo... read more

  • I may not know much about music, but I know what I like!

    Added November 13, 2014 by Chris Rowbury - 1082 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Somebody asked me the other day if I do workshops on songs from the musicals. I don't like musical theatre, so the answer was a resounding “No”.     Many people come to singing workshops because they just love to sing. The... read more

  • Get in line! - the trials of getting your singers to stand in the right places

    Added November 5, 2014 by Chris Rowbury - 1929 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Sometimes trying to get your choir to stand in the right places is like dealing with an unruly kindergarten class. It seems as if spatial awareness and singing don’t go together.   photo by johntrainor   NB this is a fictional ... read more

  • Why men won’t sing: a discussion

    Added October 29, 2014 by Chris Rowbury - 2670 views - 0 comments
    This is a blog post with a difference. I want to start a discussion using the comments facility.   photo by loungerie    Yesterday there was a veritable Twitter storm when I posed the question:   "What do you think is the main reason more men don't sing in choirs?"   using the hashtag #getmensinging. If you want t... read more

  • Music is too freely available – 10 things we've lost because of that

    Added October 23, 2014 by Chris Rowbury - 1030 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Once upon a time you could only hear your favourite song if you travelled to a live performance. It was a special, one-off, shared experience.     photo by Dave Smith   If you wanted to hear Central African pygmies singing, you... read more

  • When rehearsals go bad

    Added October 15, 2014 by Chris Rowbury - 1708 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Occasionally a rehearsal goes totally pear-shaped and I have no idea why.     photo by hebedesign   Despite my best efforts everything goes horribly wrong, and there’s no easy explanation. Perhaps it’s down to the w... read more

  • How are mixed choirs different to single-sex choirs?

    Added October 8, 2014 by Chris Rowbury - 1879 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   How do mixed choirs and single-sex choirs differ, if at all?   Victoria Choir, Uganda by Adamesmith   I was partly inspired to write this by an article on ChoralNet (Are women’s choirs different?). There are clearly some differ... read more

  • Not everyone experiences a concert in the same way

    Added September 25, 2014 by Chris Rowbury - 1285 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Just because you as a singer have a great time in a concert doesn’t mean it went well.     Happy audience by Ekke Vasli   Just because you as a choral director felt the rehearsal went much better than the actual performan... read more