Guests gather to say thank you to Corinne - New England ...

WORKSHOPPaul Holley workshop and Cantilena SingersAfter a busy time singing in the Eisteddfod, Cantilena showedtheir enthusiasm and hard working spirit when they spentan hour with Paul Holley, the 2009 Choral Adjudicator andthe director of the famous Birralee Blokes. Paul began withphysical warm-ups to stretch and energise the physical bodyand activities to engage the children’s attention and mentalenergy. He led them through several very funny tongue twistingexercises using nonsense syllables and sounds followedby a focus on their breathing.Paul then worked through two of the songs from Cantilena’srepertoire. He used imagery to assist the children in effectivelycapturing the mood of these pieces and worked particularlyhard to improve the vocal line and sense of phraseby having the children copy physical movements extendingfor the duration of each phrase or having the children hissfrom the beginning to the end of long phrases.This was a highly enjoyable workshop for Cantilena andI was impressed with their efforts after two big days of performing.Rowena Tall, Conductor, NECOM Cantilena SingersMinisingers joined Cantilena for the warm-ups.Choral conductors enjoyed watching Paul Holley in action with Cantilena.4 NECOM NEWS JULY 2009