Mistango Choir Festival

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blog: How ill do you need to be before you cancel a performance?

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] Back in 2015 I was in bed for 10 days with a nasty bout of ’flu. For the first time in my 18-year career I had to cancel a choir concert.   ...

blog: Singing with a group of strangers – mixing and mingling ideas for learning names

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   It always amazes me how surprised people are that a group of strangers can sing harmony together in just a few minutes. It’s not necessary to k...

blog: How close should a vocal arrangement be to the original song?

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Some years ago I did some voice-only arrangements of Queen songs for a weekend workshop. I ended up listening to a lot of Queen recordings!   ...

blog: “Darling, your technique is showing” – don’t be a singer who is all style and no substance

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   It’s usually the case that professional singers have had some sort of training in a particular singing technique.   photo by Kevin Cea...

blog: using world songs in the classroom: a teacher’s guide to sourcing songs and how to teach them

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] Some teachers find themselves having to lead singing sessions at their school. But often they don’t have that much experience of teaching songs ...

Next to Me by The Magnets
video: Next to Me by The Magnets

The Magnets perform a jazzed up version of Emeli Sande's No.1 hit, "Next to me"

blog: A choir is greater than any individual singer but needs 'em all

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Obvious really, but a choir is a large organism made up of lots of individuals who are working together.     The Tenor by Amyn Kassam &...

blog: What am I going to do with no singing over the summer break??!!

[this is an updated version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   For those of us who work to school terms, it is now the summer holidays. Unlike us poor folk here in the UK, the summer break is months long i...

blog: How to deal with song lyrics 3: foreign words and beyond the first verse

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Last week I looked at how you get beyond the written word if you've been learning lyrics from sheets of paper.     This week I want to look a...

blog: Singer or chorister? Choirmaster or conductor? What do you call yourself?

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   I’ve suddenly realised I don’t know what to call myself any more. I used to be a ‘choirmaster’ (a term I got from Gareth Malone and...