{"id":34620,"date":"2016-02-28T12:53:33","date_gmt":"2016-02-28T17:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=34620"},"modified":"2016-02-28T12:53:33","modified_gmt":"2016-02-28T17:53:33","slug":"34620","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/02\/28\/34620\/","title":{"rendered":"FEATURE | Opera for All: The Laboratorio Opera Choral Workshop"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Maestro
Maestro Alvaro Lozano (Photo via Miles Nadal JCC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opera for All:\u00a0 The Laboratorio Opera Choral Workshop.\u00a0Conductor: Maestro Alvaro Lozano Guti\u00e9rrez.\u00a0<\/strong>Miles Nadal JCC. February 24 to April 14.<\/h3>\n

I<\/span> know I\u2019ve really enjoyed an opera when I leave with an irresistible urge to belt out some of the arias.\u00a0 While this may not reflect artistic merit, it shows that the Company has performed so exuberantly that musical vibrations have been transferred from the stage to me to the point that I need to release the same vibrations myself. Until now, when I\u2019ve had this impulse, it\u2019s mostly been thwarted by my short-lived memory for the tunes and lyrics, plus the usual inhibitions of the untrained singer. After a few sour notes and missed intervals, I stop before I replace a beautiful memory with a discordant one.<\/p>\n

Still, I\u2019ve always been convinced that singing one of the great opera choruses at full throttle would be a euphoric experience, and over the next seven weeks, I\u2019m going to get my chance, by participating in Laboratorio: Opera Choral Workshop at the Miles Nadal JCC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Judging from the turnout at the first session on Thursday night, there are many others who have harbored the same fantasy. When I arrived one minute before it was due to start, so many people were already seated with their black binders and highlighters at the ready, that I thought I\u2019d gotten the time wrong. The room buzzed with a greater sense of expectation than you feel before a sold out concert, as we waited to find out how Maestro Alvaro Lozano Gutierrez, the workshop leader, would transform us into an opera chorus able to manage The Triumphal March from Aida and seven other choruses including the Anvil Chorus, in time for our debut on April 17.<\/p>\n

We soon learned that Gutierrez has developed a successful program that he\u2019s executed many times in Italy, mostly with children\u2019s choruses.\u00a0 It\u2019s a populist approach that provides the participants with on-line links to each vocal part, so that it isn\u2019t necessary to be able to read music, and everyone can practice at home.\u00a0 For the first meeting we only had the sheet music to the Triumphal March from Aida and The Voyager\u2019s Chorus from Mozart\u2019s Idomeneo, without the on-line links, so it was more improvisational than it will be going forward, but within 15 minutes of getting started we were singing the Triumphal March in 4 part harmony.\u00a0 Gutierrez takes each section, sings a phrase for that vocal range to repeat, does this several times, and then moves to the next section until the Sopranos, Altos, Tenors, and Basses are individually prepped.\u00a0 Then he unleashes the entire chorus at once.<\/p>\n

I joined the Alto section and did my best to hang onto the harmonizing notes that embellished the Sopranos\u2019 more dominant melody lines, providing my first lesson in choral singing: it\u2019s very hard to resist defaulting to the melody.\u00a0 The second rule of choral singing, I learned is:\u00a0 when in doubt, sing softly. As I did my best, feeling excited but anxious, I looked around at other faces ranging in expression from ecstasy to confusion to embarrassed apology. Some bodies swayed, some eyes were shut in concentration, and absolutely everybody participated.<\/p>\n

Partners with the Miles Nadal JCC for this project are the Alliance Francaise and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, three members of the Bloor St. Culture Corridor as well as the Canadian Opera Company. Its purpose is to bring an art form that has been exclusive to more people, eliminate barriers to musical education by making it accessible and affordable, and most of all FUN. The entire program costs $50 and includes a dress rehearsal at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n

Co-chaired by two intrepid volunteers, Elizabeth Abraham, and Briony Glassco,\u00a0 the project might be called a Labartoria of Love.\u00a0 Their hopes of getting 80 people to come out were modest; they have 140 people registered. The chorus is not auditioned, so the vocal range is wide.\u00a0 Some participants are members of the MNJCC choir and there some trained vocalists in the midst, and then there are wannabes like myself.\u00a0 Whatever the vocal skill, everyone is welcome,\u00a0but at this point, more men<\/strong> are especially welcome <\/em>as the soprano and alto sections are full.<\/p>\n

C\u2019mon guys, we need you to pound those anvils.<\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and review\u00a0before anyone else finds out? Get our exclusive newsletter\u00a0<\/em>here<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0<\/em>Facebook<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for all the latest.<\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve always been convinced that singing one of the great opera choruses at full throttle would be a euphoric experience, and over the next 7 weeks I\u2019m going to get my chance, by participating in Laboratorio: Opera Choral Workshop at the Miles Nadal JCC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":34644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5723,4967],"tags":[5932,5934,5933],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/IMG_2499.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s9bakr-34620","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34620"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34620"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34647,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34620\/revisions\/34647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34620"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=34620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}