Gay Men's Chorus Rehearsal, 11/27
I sat in on a rehearsal of the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus last night and was absolutely charmed. For those of you who have never heard this group, go to their concert at Ted Mann next weekend! Dr. Stan Hill has been conducting this chorus of 150-200 talented men for several years now and their sound is stunning.
I plan to steal a great deal of what I saw Stan do. On higher pitches, he used motions to emphasize verticality and a dropped jaw. The result was basses singing gorgeous high Gs along with the tenors (I kid you not). What I loved most was the sense of community he forged with his singers. They have a partnership going where choir members cooperate fully with Stan’s vision, and in turn, he as a conductor is attentive and inspiring. The Gay Men’s Chorus is one of the only choirs I’ve seen who consistently perform dynamics as written and then some!
The highlight of the evening was “Make Our Garden Grow”- Stan expertly held back the chorus’ full power until the perfect moment at the end and my skin just tingled. Actually, you have no idea how close I came to elbowing the guest soprano out of the way and letting it rip. But I digress.
The pacing of the rehearsal was also ideal. Stan was able to switch gears in a heartbeat between pieces that ranged from Bach to show tunes. Not a second was wasted, but it felt organic, not frantic. I learned a great deal technically as well; Stan was able to model nicely what he wanted and articulate subtle concepts like the difference between a diphthong and a vowel glide. I am a total convert to the TCGMC and madly jealous of Stan!