Choir

Anne-Marie Plummer —

Singing in the choir is great. You get to sing on stage, learn new music, make heaps of friends and go on trips.

On Friday February 26th 52 members of the choir went to Linwood College to take part in vocal workshops lead by vocal coach and arranger Deke Sharon. Deke Sharon is an American singer, arranger, composer, director, producer and teacher of a cappella music. He is one of the leaders of the contemporary a cappella style favoured by groups such as Pentatonix. He arranged the music for the movie Pitch Perfect and travels across the world performing, teaching and advising singers of all abilities how to make the most of their voice.

Along with several other schools the choir was immediately put on the spot when it became clear that they were expected to get up on stage and sing something. Although initially quite daunting those members who sang in the Junior prizegiving last term were able to perform Siyahamba with no rehearsal and no warm up. We saw how Deke transformed their performance with some highly encouraging tips. The girls did a superb job of lifting their voices to the heavens as they sang with full voice the lyric ‘We are marching in the light of God!’

It was lovely to see ex Riccarton student Evile Laloata singing amazingly with his small ensemble from Aranui. Later in the morning Deke demonstrated some fabulous beat boxing skills and how to make musical instrument sounds with the voice such as flute, trombone and trumpet. The experience was inspirational. Here are some comments from the choir:

‘He was really inspiring especially when he talked about how he created his career of a cappella. The skills he taught us were awesome.’

 ‘It was a really great experience. He inspired me to keep trying my best and be happy about what I have achieved’ 

‘Deke Sharon's workshop was an experience I won't forget. He is such a talented guy and I really enjoyed the way we got to pick up tips from watching and listening to other groups too. He was really motivational and managed to connect with each individual in the room. Hearing about the early days of his career was really interesting and inspiring.’