Abstract
I was invited by the University of Jyväskylä to be guest lecturer and guest conductor during November 2005. The project led up to a concert with a specially chosen collection of South African choral works. The compositions included works by both black and white South African composers.
The last part of the concert was made up of renditions of traditional black South African folksongs.
The choir that invited me as guest conductor was a specially made-up choir of members of the two most prominent choirs in Jyväskylä , Finland. They are the Cantinovum Choir, of the Music Department of the Jyväskylä School for Applied Science and Arts (Polytechnic), and the University of Jyväskylä 's Music Department's Musica Choir. The challenge was firstly to shape into conformity the sound ideal of two different choirs, and secondly, to shape the sound of this newly formed choir to suit the ideals of the music to be performed, and then to match the sound ideal I have for the specific instrument and the works to be performed. The task at hand had to be done in less than two weeks and in seven rehearsals.
A variety of strategies for creating a unique and identifiable choral sound were utilized. The most important of these was to concentrate on the following four building blocks for good choral sound:
very good, if not perfect intonation
blended homogeneous vowel production
technically controlled legato singing
controlled use of vibrato.
The repertoire was chosen to show a wide variety of styles in South African choral compositions. Formally composed music of contemporary South African composers to black South African traditional songs were included in order to introduce the singers and audience to exciting segments of South African's multi-layered choral tradition. The idea was not to be representative, - but rather to whet the singers' and audiences' appetites for South African choral music.