Culduthel Centre, Inverness, 1 June 2011

OF all the unusual ways to begin a concert, surely the most bizarre is for the conductor to ask the audience if the parents of David Graham are present.  “Good!  His loose tooth has just come out.  Here it is!”  It could only happen to the conductor of a children’s choir  –  in this case the inspirational Margaret Rae at the start of the Summer Concert by the Inverness Area Choir, part of the network of the National Youth Choir of Scotland.

Can it be only three years since the first performance by this Inverness Area Choir, with only a few more than a handful of eager children?  Now there are eighty-four youngsters, all chosen by audition, in three choirs at various stages of development, with a further forty waiting for their chance to join next season.

Inverness Area Choir (photo Ewan Weatherspoon)

Margaret Rae and her team, Helen Goodwill, Heather Muir, John Thomson and pianist Christine MacLeod, have an over-riding philosophy when it comes to singing, that it should be fun.  The weekly rehearsals every Tuesday are a mix of songs and games to teach the children musical techniques, the results of which were a joy to hear.

First up on the platform was the Trainers Choir, the beginners, to sing a set of songs from the sea, two by the doyenne of teaching children to sing, Lin Marsh, and three traditional songs from around the world.  From the first words of Big Boats, Small Boats these starters had a clarity that would put many an adult choir to shame with every word perfectly audible.  Pirates! added some hand and arm movement to the mix and some threatening tone, albeit fairly light-hearted.

The arrangements for My Paddle’s Keen And Bright and Rocky Mountain were more advanced, with elements of part-song, but all handled confidently by this team of eight and nine year olds.  The popular My Bonny Lies Over The Ocean brought the set to a close and was much appreciated by the large audience of families and friends.

The two Junior Choirs joined together into a group of fifty to sing four songs, two more by Lin Marsh, a traditional American song, and one by Scots harper and composer Savourna Stevenson, with whom the choir will be performing at Eden Court in September.

Once again the level of demands placed on the children increased as the set progressed.  Hot Air Balloon had a canonical structure and Gravity added a touch of swing with well filled solo spots from Stig McArthur, Max Morgan, Callum MacRae and Robert Thorne from the boys, and Aine Beattie, Katie Gregson-MacLeod, Abigayle Leslie and Bethany McArthur from the girls.

The Savourna Stevenson song, The Finn Woman, demanded a change of style to suit the composer’s trademark sound of the Scottish harp, and the traditional Charlotte Town called for clapping and stamping as well as introducing elements from other songs such as Little Liza Jane.

Proving that learning to sing is fun came from the demonstration of Musicianship Games, using such devices as rhythm cards, a passed basketball and a hidden button.  And will any of the children be able to confront a pentatonic scale in the future without remembering:

Oh dearie me / My Mama’s got a flea! / She salted it and peppered it / And had it for her tea!

Before all the choirs came together for a medley of American gospel songs, Hallelujah Halle-sing!, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, and When The Saints Go Marching In, Margaret Rae had some important announcements to make.

Firstly thirty members of the Junior Choirs had been awarded Certificates of Achievement under the NYCoS Scheme, and secondly that the distinguished Patricia MacMahon, just retired as Head of Voice at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, will be coming up to work with the Inverness Area Choir in November.  Now, that is an accolade for all the children.

© James Munro, 2011

Links

• National Youth Choir of Scotland