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Choirs

Choirs of 8 to 40 singers

Choir coaching, by the term

Monday and Wednesday evenings · choirs of up to 40 voices · around Bergen
Service Length NOK Terms
Within 40 km of Bergen centre
Rehearsal visit 2 h 3,400 Book four weeks ahead. 30 percent deposit holds the date.
Season of six visits 6 visits 18,600 Book six weeks ahead. Spread over 8-12 weeks. 30 percent deposit.
Saturday intensive 10:00-16:00 6,500 Book four weeks ahead. Lunch break included. 30 percent deposit.
Further afield
Travel beyond 40 km per km 5 Each way, plus any ferry fare at cost.
Write about your choir

Say how many singers you have and roughly when your concert is. The contact page lists what else helps.

A season · six visits of two hours

How a season runs

Six visits spread over eight to twelve weeks, at your Monday or Wednesday evening rehearsal. Your conductor keeps the music. I work on the sound, and hand it back before the concert.

  1. Visit 1 0minutes conducting

    Listening

    I sit at the back and take notes. No conducting, no stopping the rehearsal. Afterwards your conductor and I agree what the next five visits are for.

  2. Visit 2 1vowel shape for every voice

    Breath and vowels

    One shared vowel shape for the whole choir, sung on a single held chord until sopranos and basses are making the same sound on different notes.

  3. Visit 3 4parts, one at a time

    Tuning chords

    Chords taken slowly, voice by voice, each part laying itself onto the one below until the whole thing rings without anyone pushing.

  4. Visit 4

    Blend and balance

    Which means standing in a new order. Sections mix, neighbours change, and everyone starts hearing the choir instead of the person beside them.

  5. Visit 5 the bars you choose

    The difficult bars only

    We skip everything that already works. Two hours go on the passages that do not, taken apart and put back together until they stop being the bars everyone dreads.

  6. Visit 6 1run through, your conductor in charge

    The concert run through

    Your conductor is back in charge from the first note to the last. I sit in the hall where the audience will sit, and give notes once it is over.

Who this suits

Community, workplace and chamber choirs of 8 to 40 singers that already have a conductor or leader.

I come as an outside ear for a season, not as a replacement. The person who chooses your music and stands in front of you every week stays exactly where they are, and usually gets more out of the six visits than anyone.

Choirs larger than forty, choirs with a concert less than three weeks away, and requests for arrangements written to order are better served elsewhere, as listed under not taken on. Visits are on Monday and Wednesday evenings; a Saturday intensive runs 10:00-16:00 with a lunch break. Singers who want work of their own can book private lessons in the studio.

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