Name: Margaret

 

Voice: Second soprano

 

Subject: Medicine

 

I came to uni expecting I would be too busy to do much music at all, and sort of came upon Clifton Cathedral choir by chance. A recommendation from a friend brought me to my first rehearsal, and I never looked back! The commitment is much less than I expected, and the rewards much higher than I had hoped.

 

Before coming to university, I had some experience of singing in choirs, through my home parish, and choirs in school, but I hadn’t thought choir singing was particularly challenging or exciting. This choir has proved me wrong. I now can’t imagine a time without choral singing in my life. We sing music written hundreds of years ago, and music that was printed for the first time ten minutes before rehearsal starts. The breadth is incredible, and with every style comes a new challenge. I’ve described this experience to singer friends back at home, and realised that a choir that covers so much, and has such a high standard is a very rare and precious thing, and I’m incredibly lucky to have stumbled across one.

 

After a long or difficult week of uni work, choir is a welcome break. Two rehearsals a week is probably more than many university choirs, but with new music every week, things never get stale, and the time is always well spent. My abilities at sight reading, group singing (and covering mistakes!) have never been more tested, and I feel far more confident in all of these areas now than I did a few years ago. I have also discovered many composers and pieces that I can carry with me to choirs I sing with in future.