On Sunday 10 July, more than 1,500 singers from around the world will be taking part in The Really Big Chorus performance of Carl Orff’s iconic work Carmina Burana. Here’s what some of them have to say about their preparations and the unique nature of a TRBC concert with a note from a regular member of the audience too. Lynn from Bristol: There are nine of us from Stokes Singers in Bristol (a four-part community choir) coming to London's Royal Albert Hall next month to take part in The Really Big Chorus ‘Singday’. I have been organising everything from rehearsals to buying the T-shirts.
We decided to have monthly meetings. At our first, I gave a run-down on what we would do each month, covering the acquisition of tickets for the performance, transport there and back, accommodation, CD's and scores, T-shirts and shows (as we decided whilst there, we'd do a West End show too). So every month since January, we have had a meeting at my house to discuss everything and sing through our parts.
We ran through the music looking particularly at the pronunciation. I must admit, the practice CDs have been invaluable. You can listen at home and in the car, practising wherever takes your fancy.
I’m really looking forward to it!
Angelina from Paris: My name is Angelina. I am a 35-year-old mum of 2 children, practising as a doctor in my working hours and singing soprano in my leisure time. I started singing in a choir in Paris when I was 19 for about 10 years then moved to England where I discovered what choral singing really meant!
The first time I was offered a chance to sing with The Really Big Chorus at the Royal Albert Hall, I was very impressed. I thought it was a great opportunity for me having come all the way from France with only a couple of years of experience singing in the UK. The Hall looked so grand! I remember very well that it was Carmina Burana that year. The day went so well that I repeated the experience several times after that.
The biggest challenge when singing in The Really Big Chorus is to feel the music when you don’t know it yet. Practising on your own can be quite daunting. What I tend to do is to buy a performance CD of the work and listen to the piece endlessly until I can almost hum it in my sleep. In parallel, I decipher my voice part in the score and, when I know it well enough, I try to sing it with the CD. I prefer to know the colour of the music first, apprehend the feelings that it reveals and then tackle the sight-reading: it actually becomes much easier because you already know the piece well.