NEC Chamber Singers

-I started driving race cars when I turned ten, and my cars were based on the popular Broadway musical, “Wicked;” I had a green and black Elphaba car, along with a pink and sparkly Galinda car.
-I have a pet cockatiel named Prince.
-Rehearsal for Chamber Singers is easily my favorite part of the week.  :)
Thanks for visiting our blog, and I hope to see you on our tour!

Do you have a bucket list? I know I certainly do! One of the things on my extensive and adventurous list, other than climbing to Base Camp on Mount Everest, scuba diving, skydiving or finding time to watch the movie “The Bucket List”, is to join a classical choir.



During Orientation Week of Fall semester 2012, Erica Washburn put out an invite to join the NEC Chamber Singers. At that very moment, the bright light from heaven shone down on my head as the angels sang “Gloria.” This was the moment!! This was the time!! The red inky pen was getting ready to cross off item number #46 on the list.



Having come from an exclusively jazz background and having focused on my solo career for the past decade, the thought of singing in a new style with a team of operatic choristers was alluring.



Since that angelic intervention, so many wonderful things have come about. I never quite realized how empowering it is to make music with 27 other like-minded (and much louder) singers. We sing in a variety of languages - which poses a challenge for this little scat girl. Oh, but I love it anyway! My Hungarian singing had a full work out today, whilst last semester a little German and Russian made it into the mix.



Wednesday morning rehearsals are a great time to for me to refocus my week. Zoning into a state of Zen poses a problem with 28 divas excitedly pouring over Britten and Chesnokov, but the peacefulness and clarity is certainly there. There are those magical moments when we finish a song and you can sense a transaction between kindred spirits that has just taken place. Gee, this sounds so serious! I forgot to mention the great food that Ms. Washburn brings!!



Lastly, the best thing that the NEC Chamber Singers has to offer is the beautiful and genuine friendships of each member. We have a mixed bag of comedians, divas and a few off-centered weirdos, but I love them all in any case. I can certainly say that joining Chamber Singers is one of the classiest things I’ve done at NEC. Definitely worthy of a bucket list tick!



Liz Tobias

Jazz Vocalist and fellow diva

1) I am a sophomore vocal performance major.
2) In Boston I have two turtles named Finn and Jake, a fish named Julio, and in Virginia a dog named Rocky.
3) I was born in Russia.

1. Classical Voice Performance Major, senior undergrad
2. I really like to eat (and also have a huge love for cooking)
3. I laugh really hard at the corniest jokes. I’m usually on the floor losing air because I’m laughing so hard.

1. I am a freshman vocal performance major.
2. I have been a vegetarian for two years.
3. i am the oldest of three sisters, but as of quite recently, no longer the tallest!

1.) I am a Sophomore Vocal Performance student at NEC
2.) Originally from Ohio, I now live in a town called Horseheads in NY
3.) I am an avid juggler. I can juggle 3 clubs and rings, and 4 balls.

Fact 1:
I’m a 29 year old, Jazz Voice, 1st year, Grad student from Australia, living the dream! I’m totally loving life in Boston and find Americans to be quite entertaining!

Fact 2:
When I was 10 years old, i got stung on the tongue by a bee after it landed on my lollipop!

Fact 3:
I love driving with the wind in my hair, the sun on my face and the sweet smell of Australian beaches in the air as Mariah Carey’s MTV Unplugged album is blaring out of the car!


Life Philosophy:Never say no to prayer or chocolate.

Hello, everyone! My name is Amanda, and I am a Soprano in Chamber Singers this year. Being a freshman in a music conservatory with talent spewing from every possible angle of our little community of NEC can be quite overwhelming at times. Not only are we trying to adjust to a new environment, but we’re trying to manage homework from all areas of our education, whether it be practicing for Solfege class or making sure we’re supporting our voices the right way after hours of lessons and choral rehearsals. We are surrounded by a tremendously talented student body day after day, and we aspire to eventually gain the level of musicality that these students have.

Chamber Singers has made this transition from “high school level” to “conservatory style” musicianship so much easier in several ways. First of all, Erica, our conductor, makes the environment so welcoming and easy to work in every Wednesday. I feel that we have a very balanced amount of fun and hard work (and we get rewarded with baked goods…not saying this is the best part! haha.) She is extremely picky when it comes to making the group in sync and perfect, so when she compliments us, we know that we’ve finally been able to achieve the ultimate sound for whatever piece we may be doing.

Second of all, the older students in the group are extremely talented and seasoned chamber singers, and raise the bar for the group’s overall musical aura. As a freshman, I appreciate this so much because every time I come out of a rehearsal, I feel inspired to better myself in terms of vocal preparation and technique.

And lastly, this choir has helped me in all of my other classes; my solfege skills have vastly improved because we had used them to help us learn notes whenever we began a new piece, and I now know so much more about diction in various languages such as English, Russian, Hungarian and German.

Wednesdays are always a treat because I get to start them with CS rehearsals!

The tour is nearing for us, and we cannot wait to express our passion for music with all of you! Stay tuned for more updates on our group, and I hope you enjoy reading about our journey (and hopefully see the end results!) :)

1. I am a senior vocal performance major
2. I am from Connecticut
3. I am a Libra.

I am a Senior Classical Vocal Performance Major, this is my 4th year in Chamber Singers and I have a cat (Abe) and a turtle (Nicodemus).

1.  I am a second-year Undergraduate Vocal performance major.
2.  I love early music as well as opera, but musicians like Frank Sinatra and Nat-King Cole, and bands like Fleetwood Mac and Journey all have a special place in my heart.
3.  I love cooking tremendously.

1.  I am a second-year Undergraduate Vocal performance major.
2.  I love early music as well as opera, but musicians like Frank Sinatra and Nat-King Cole, and bands like Fleetwood Mac and Journey all have a special place in my heart.
3.  I love cooking tremendously.

Hello, my name is Tim Ayres-Kerr, and I sing first tenor in the NEC Chamber Singers.

Being a part of Chamber Singers is simply different than being in any other choir. The difference being that each member is training primarily for a career as a soloist, in opera, oratorio, and even jazz. We all are in the process of mastering the art of bel canto and learning to use our voices in the healthiest way possible, whether it be for classical singing or otherwise. What is especially unique about the Chamber Singers is that as an ensemble, we accept our healthy singing for what it is  and all strive individually to find our efficient placement and ring and spin in the sound (we sing with vibrato). We have never been asked by our director to squeeze our voices into a mold to create that “choral” sound we are so likely to hear in the music of modern composers. We take time out of our lessons with our private voice teachers to learn how to mark for rehearsal, and make our unique solo voices work for us in the ensemble, rather than allow us to stick out. Straight tone may make ensembles sound “blended,” but if one were to ask Lamperti, the author of Vocal Wisdom, or any of the old Italian voice teachers whose genius is preserved in their writings, straight pressed tone is not healthy singing, and that’s as simple as it gets.

We are the Chamber Singers. We are training to use our instruments in the most efficient way, and our method of singing choral literature is simply the right way. And we’re going on tour.

1. I am a Undergraduate Vocal Performance major in the Class of 2016.
2. I was so grateful to have the chance to perform in both Women’s Choir and Mixed Choir for the past two years at NY All State in Rochester.
3. I’m a total musical theatre junkie and proud!

Hello, everyone!

Thanks so much for joining all of us on this adventure! The Chamber Singers (CS) are a group of highly energetic, eager and passionate musicians and are so excited to bring you along on our tour, be it literally, virtually or both! I’ve been a part of the CS since my freshmen year at NEC and can’t believe that it’s been almost four years. This group of people have not only been a source of creating music and artistic endeavors, but also an incredibly close, loving, supporting and caring family. With every rehearsal, performance and everything in between, they remind me how lucky I am to wake up in the morning and say “I get to do what I love every single day.” They push me to every corner of my comfort circle and WAYYYYYYYYYYYYY beyond it. We laugh, we cry, we talk in accents, and we get to sing music from all over the world in an abundance of different languages. The best part of it all, is that we get to share it with all of you. This tour for me is so much more then just going to a number of different venues and performing some songs. It is a piece of my story that I get to share with all of you and connect through the universal language of music. So, from the bottom of my whole mind, heart and soul, thank you for taking time to read about us, to listen and to share your joy in the beauty that is music. Sending big hugs to all of you! See you on the road! :)

P.S. We are a big hugging group, so don’t be afraid to meet us, talk with us and share in a hug. We will happily return the love!

Hugs and smiles,
Julia

 1.) Am a sophomore (class of 2015); my major is classical voice (tenor)

2.) Am half-Pakistani on my Dad’s side.

3.) LOVE GOOD FOOD/am kind of a food snob haha :)

As a student (classical vocalist) at New England Conservatory, I treasure the opportunity to be a part of a musical family and community where there seems to be a general understanding that consummate musicianship is more important than talent. Sure, we are all talented at NEC; that’s why we got in here in the first place. However, talent in and of itself is not what being a student at this prestigious institution is about. It is about acquiring the invaluable skills and the discipline necessary to succeed as an artist in contemporary society. Being punctual, having sight-reading skills, aural skills, respect for colleagues and a sense of ensemble –all of these will carry a musician much further than simply being able to sing or play an instrument reasonably well, and as such are crucial to success.

I strongly feel that no aspect of my studies has allowed me to apply good musicianship skills I have begun to acquire more than being a member of the NEC Chamber Singers. I truly feel blessed to be a part of a small ensemble of dedicated and gifted singers, but with this comes responsibility.  It requires being on time, because absence or tardiness in such a small group is much more readily noticed. It requires excellent sight-reading ability in order to quickly learn the notes of a lot of music in order to move on to the much more difficult task of interpretation. It requires excellent listening skills, in order to be aware of other voices and create a unified sound as an ensemble. However, most importantly of all, being a Chamber Singer requires maintaining a great deal of respect for your fellow members. All of us could easily stand on our own as soloists, but that is not the point of the group. If anyone tried to make their voice more easily heard than others, they would be undermining the group, plain and simple. It is amazing to have such a great group of humble singers willing to contribute their talent only as is necessary to create a homogenous sound. What a thing to behold.

-Evan Rizvi