By Judy Rattner
The King's Singers have performed arrangements of contemporary, folk and pop music, including Beatles songs, but they are probably known for making entirely different music.
The choral group takes its name from its founders, who were choral scholars at King's College in Cambridge, and is known throughout the world as a musical force with an all-encompassing repertoire that also includes classical, medieval and Renaissance music. They present it with charm, wit and masterful musicality. Comprising a bass, two baritones, a tenor and two countertenors, who sing as falsettists, the group captivated its audience Sunday with its unique sound.
David Hurley, Robin Tyson, Paul Phoenix, Phillip Lawson, Christopher Gabbitas and Stephen Connolly were actually on a day off, having performed a concert of religious music - attended by, among many others, some 20 South Side students - at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan the previous night. On Monday the singers were scheduled to leave New York for Salt Lake City, where they will be featured performers with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in a Christmas concert
to be taped by PBS for airing in 2008.
The King's Singers had come to South Side to present a two-hour master class, during which they listened to the school's vocal music students, offered them tips and briefly performed for a scattering of friends and family in the auditorium Sunday afternoon. The tone of the session was casual, but everyone involved took the exercise quite seriously, working on several pieces that the Chamber Singers and the Choraleers, under the direction of South Side High School music teacher Karen Faust Baer, will perform at the school's Winter Concerts Dec. 18 and 19.
"We are really impressed that you guys gave up your Sunday afternoon to come in and make music," said one of their visitors. "In our schools in England, we don't emphasize music like the schools here do. You're lucky to have this music in your lives."
Dr. Brian Zuar, director of the school district's Performing Arts Department, welcomed the King's Singers by saying, "My first inclination when I learned they were coming was to shout it from the rooftops and put it in the paper, but we decided to turn it into a learning experience for our students and welcome only friends and family."
Before the afternoon session got under way, Coleen Quigley, a Chamber Singer, said, "I'm really excited, because we've sung their songs and watched their videos in class, and now they're here in person."
Fellow Chamber Singer Kyle Rosenblum echoed her comment, adding, "I'm a little anxious, but I'm very excited to work with them. We've practiced many of their works."
Rosenblum's anxiety must have been shared by his fellow Chamber Singers, because the first comment on their performance of "I'm a Train" from the visitors was that they looked worried and a little bit bored. They were advised to have fun and remember to sing to their audience, not their conductor. Further advice included a suggestion to stand closer together and establish a direct line with their conductor.
On another, more intricate piece, Baer was briefly relieved of her conducting duties and the singers were encouraged to breath and start together, and work toward blending their sound. "It's teamwork, trusting the people around you," they were told. "Singing is 80 percent listening - it's knowing what's going on around you."
The students were told that to get a three-dimensional, surround-sound effect, they should back off when their part is in the background, and shine when they're in the spotlight. They were also advised to balance their technical excellence with their performance. "Raise both and mix them. It comes alive when you come alive," said their King's Singer critic.
The school's Choraleers performed "On My Own" from "Les Miserables." "We don't want you looking completely miserable when you're performing," they were told. "I believe the way they describe it on Broadway is to have 'commitment' to the song." After they sang Handel's "Antiphonal Alleluia," they were told that as a big group, they should listen across to other parts in the chorus.
The King's Singers said hat they were established in London in 1968, that the first performance was in Bordeaux, France, and that no one from the original group was still with them - they would be well into their 70s now. The group has a very low turnover, though - they've lost only about 20 members in their nearly 40 years of existence, despite a demanding touring schedule, which takes them away from home for about six months a year, in two-week intervals.
This group of six has been together for four years. They do about 120 concerts worldwide each year, 25 to 30 of them in the United States. They also do a number of master classes, many in Germany and America, in high schools and colleges and with adult singing groups.
"It's an important part of what we do," said Gabbitas, "to make sure we establish an audience for our work but also for the development of music for young people. It's a code in your brain, good for cerebral development like math, science and language, anything where you have to interpret data. It's also good for your soul and your spiritual side. You get a lot from music. Like sports or other pursuits, this helps develop passions."
In addition to their performances and classes, the singers' recording plans include a collaboration with the instrumental ensemble Sarband, a pop disc, a crossover album and their first DVD.
"I feel like I'm in heaven," said Baer, who, like the casual observers in the auditorium, heard the tangible results of the session. "The kids were so good, so well-behaved. I'm so proud of them.."
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