Everyone should have the experience of singing a great choral work while wearing sunglasses. No, I don't mean while inside! Well, I guess unless you're trying to have some sort of Blues Brothers moment. Otherwise, the ideal situation for chorister sunglass wearing is outside on a beautiful day, such as the situation today in choir rehearsal.
Our performance at Orchestra Hall is just a few days away. In orchestra hall, the choir sits in the terrace, an elevated seating area around the back part of the stage. We are told by our director that the combined effect of the semi-circular seating arrangement and the acoustic of the hall essentially make it impossible to hear anyone or anything apart from one's own voice. In order to prepare for this environment, today we spent part of our rehearsal outside. The brass were also present, although there was not keyboard or percussion equipment. We arranged ourselves into a huge semi-circle of 3 rows, just like the terrace, with the brass in the middle, and our director standing atop a short wall that happens to run through that little part of campus. (This is the guy who spends the rest of our rehearsals standing atop the little counter-thing in the front of a large lecture hall, mind you.) Our backs were to the road, and so we could not take in the inevitable looks of "what the....?" from passersby. Just as well, since it really is hard to sing in that situation and we definitely needed to stay focused!
Rutter in shades. Gotta love it.
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