Blog post #45 - ChoirKate -Part 5

Saying goodbye to those astonishing girls was one of the hardest things I have done in my life.
Off I went into the unknown……….
I had met Dr Doreen Rao a couple of times, attending choral workshops where she was the Master Teacher. I loved her energy and her love of song; the heights, the depths, the breadth and breaths of it.

So it was to Toronto I went for my post grad diploma of Advanced Choral Conducting, newly constructed by Doreen.

And it was here that the healing finally began…..
For here no one knew my story, no one saw me as Stace’s Kate and it was a revelation to me that people were interested in me, the solo version.
And I discovered that I could tell stories and make people laugh!

I have fond recollection of that pivotal time. Of the learning, the opportunities, of the fabulous camaraderie of my two classmates, Esther and dear Heather, sadly now passed way too young.
We were a terrific trio, each bringing our gifts literally to the table at Mercurio’s for our study breakfasts. Esther, the phenomenally scary, perfect-pitched musician; Heather who had been studying with Doreen through our mentor’s fabulous Choral Music Experience program, and me? I think I brought quirkiness, left of centre thinking, maybe a touch of sheer bloody chutzpah…not sure?

But above all the music, singing and relentless study and performance schedule, we laughed!
Ah! The medicinal properties of laughter!

We could be heard coming a mile away.

Whenever we walked through a door which helpfully instructed me to “push,” I’d pull! I think I’ve always done that, a metaphor for me in life too! But my friends just laughed every time I did it and there were many doors at UofT, so plenty of scope to explore the gag!
And they loved my turn of phrase which was often outrageously Aussie but delivered with what they thought was a posh English accent!
I was just being myself, laughing at myself with them and I never knew that that Kate was entertaining and fun to be around. That was Stacey’s forte.

And it happened that dear prom friends of my folks had emigrated to Canada. Marg Edwards and Les were wonderful to me, cheering me on from the sidelines and their family became my own.
Marg is still with us, the last of those post war promenaders standing I believe! So, in my upcoming trip I’ll be seeing her and them all. So precious.

I had half-heartedly written a paper called The Australian Voice as my submission for my grant. At the time I felt, “ah well, if I get it, I’ll be able to get rid of another miserable year of my bereft and barren life!”
But of course, once I was in Toronto I had to look to it seriously! Eek!

Turns out that I actually believed in my blah blah, because the big takeaway for me was the exploration of what it meant to be Australian in the choral world.
To be truly Australian in a scene steeped in the English tradition, with the sheer juggernaut of Hal Leonard’s America in the mix, is such a tall and tricky order; our voice so small, so unexplored, so deeply buried beneath our bowing to all other expressions of song but our own.
Should we just roll over……..?
(Not on your life!)

The other thing that the year away gave me was time out from voice teaching.
A year after Stace exited stage left, I went to an ANATS workshop with Jo Estill. She was a very scary lady!
I had been teaching successfully for years using mere hunch and intuition.
I approached that workshop with trepidation. I mean, what if I was a charlatan?
I think we all dread being found out!
Anyway, lucky me to discover that my hunches were actually founded on anatomical function!
Hurray!
So, the other thing that happened in that year away was a re-grouping of my teaching and this spilled over into my choral world upon my return.
Let’s see what can happen when we have voices that can leap through hoops of fire AND rock a baby in its cradle!

Doreen did me the honour of not only scheduling LAWA in that year’s repertoire, but also putting it up for publication by Boosey and Hawkes, no less!
A key song in the Mac.Rob tour was Sarah Hopkins’ Past Life Melodies and Doreen gave me the UofT women’s choir for this wonderful piece and LAWA in one of our concerts.
I think Sarah H has done more than any other composer to delve into the rich heritage of our First Nations Australians with respect and love, so I leave you with this.

https://youtu.be/IqRo9GlG0s4?si=SEkTUiK-Zl5r7E4n

The next instalment brings us to VoxSynergy……. where my belief in the unique voice of Australia would take me to another group of extraordinary young singers.

---