A Dedication to Vocalicity

Monteverdi's 'Beatus Vir' performed by Vocalicity

For today's post, I wanted to share a video of the close harmony group that I direct along with some of the other members. On Tuesday, I performed at my last ever school concert, and it was unexpectedly quite emotional to think that I wouldn't be doing the same thing next year. We decided to name our group: 'Vocalicity' as we were sick of calling ourselves the: 'Emanuel School Close Harmony Group' which, I'm sure you'll agree, doesn't have much of a ring to it. The reason I love this group so much is because it is created and directed by students. Despite there being varied ages from 15-18, we are all good friends, and being in a group together has in fact pulled us closer together. At so many school concerts these days, the end of the concerts are filled with various speeches thanking the horn teacher, or the piano teacher, or the singing teacher. However, for us, there is a much bigger sense of achievement because we have no teacher to help us, merely a huge interest in all kinds of vocal music, and a willingness to sing to the best of our abilities. Having sung with them for the last two years, I feel a great sense of sadness knowing that next year I will no longer be part of it. However - being the oldest in the group - I also feel so proud of all the members of Vocalicity for sharing my passion for classical music, and for gaining true friendship out of it as well. As well as that, we've sung with internationally renowned group Voces8, as well as singing in prestigious venues around London such as Fortnum & Masons, and St John's, Smith Square. As I'm sure you would have guessed, working with a group of 10 teenagers isn't always easy as there is a lot of gossipping, chatting and texting going on, but it also has advantages such as creativity, energy and most of all: very varied opinions. For instance, some of us have a passion for the Renaissance era, some for Polyphony, and some for more modern styles and composers such as Gershwin and Leighton. But, that's what makes our rehearsals more interesting, and our performances more inventive. Therefore, I dedicate this post to the members of Vocalicity to say well done for all the hard work, thank you for the memories, and goodbye - for now!