It doesn't matter what age, nationality, or whether they are women or men, and it is not even mandatory to have previous experience – as long as the talent and aptitude for music are there. In the new choir of the Orquestra Clássica do Sul (OCS), which was born yesterday, Monday, the most important thing is «to have a huge desire to learn and to enjoy singing well».
The guarantee was given to journalists by the baritone Rui Baeta, during a break in a session that began as a presentation, but which quickly turned into a rehearsal, which took place this Monday in the orchestra's rehearsal room, next to Teatro das Figuras, in Faro.
The Algarvian opera singer is responsible for this new OCS project, which took its first steps yesterday. About 80 people accepted the challenge and will be the feedstock with which Rui Baeta will work, from now on, with a view to preparing shows in which, to the instruments of the OCS musicians, voices are added.
The group, as it turns out, is quite heterogeneous. “We have people here who have already studied music, who sing in other choirs, who play instruments. But we also have others who came here because they thought it was funny», he said.
“There are those here who don't have any previous experience. These people can be here, as long as they have the necessary skills to accompany the rehearsals of the choir and the orchestra”, said Rui Baeta, who will lead the choir.
This selection will now be made, over time, as, before yesterday's session, no one from the OCS “had heard any of these people singing”.
And what does it take to belong to a choir? “The person has to have a good voice, a good ear and a musical memory. You may or may not know how to read music, as long as your musical memory compensates for that aspect. But, above all, he must have a huge desire to learn and enjoy singing well. Because singing well is really the most difficult thing and sometimes people don't have the patience for it», illustrated the head of the OCS choir.
“You can learn to be tuned. Auditory sensitivity is trained, but it is also innate. There are people with more hearing sensitivity, others with less. There is training, but evolution will always be proportional to the capacity that people have», he added.
Yesterday, after a quick presentation by those responsible for the OCS, work began right away. «Today we have already started to rehearse a bit. On the 7th and 8th of June, we will debut the choir with the piece “Glória” by Vivaldi, which is magnificent, in a concert with OCS, directed by conductor Rui Pinheiro», announced Rui Baeta. Rui Pinheiro, principal conductor of the Algarve orchestra, participated, moreover, in the rehearsal, but on the side of the choir.
In other words, everyone will have to be ready to take the stage soon. Since this is a choir, for more than one formation in which some elements already have experience, it is possible, in a few months, to prepare it to accompany an orchestra.
“The preparation of a soloist takes years. But here, it's the choir itself that does the work. It's a combination of efforts. If this is effective, even if there is one person who knows much more than the other, everything works, because everyone collaborates», illustrated Rui Baeta.
The lyrical singer from Algarve is also surprised by the adhesion. “None of us expected so many people. We were far from imagining that we had so many subscribers. And the first rehearsal is going really well. The people are very tuned, they have delicacy and there are good voices, which I've heard”, he assured.
The fact that OCS managed to launch an amateur choir already with a certain level of quality is closely linked to the «excellent work done by amateur groups from music schools in the Algarve. We, in a way, are here to take advantage of all this work that comes from behind and is very deserving. This is not something that is born in the desert».
As for the number of singers, it's ideal to start with. “More than this number is neither necessary nor even convenient, not so much for artistic reasons, but for logistical reasons. Probably, there won't be so many people, because there are always unforeseen events that arise and people end up giving up», anticipated the person in charge of directing the choir.
The registration for the choir has already closed, but the possibility of admitting “one more or another element, if there is someone with a special will (laughs)” is not put aside, as long as it is accompanied by talent, concluded Rui Baeta.
Comments