Waynflete Singers Andrew Lumsden Interviews

Andrew Lumsden succeeded David Hill as our conductor and Director of Music in September 2002.

Wayns World's meeting with Andy took place on April Fools' Day in an unusually calm and ordered fashion! Signs of post-Monteverdi and pre-Easter panic were nowhere to be seen, and desks were cleared as the Maestro prepared himself for a well-earned break in the far-flung Mediterranean island where the nymph Calypso detained the Greek hero Odysseus for seven long years as a prisoner of love!

Wayns World: After all the hard work, did the Monteverdi live up to your expectations?

Andy Lumsden: Well it certainly wasn't always a smooth ride during rehearsals, but we made it in the end. I think most people enjoyed it and there was some very 'gutsy' singing taking place. I was particularly pleased with some of the effects we achieved by using different parts of the building, and I found the Gloria in the Magnificat particularly moving. The Girl Choristers added a superb dimension to the concert and it was marvellous to have them with us. It is a very exacting sing for everyone, with plenty of note and rhythmic complications, but it is also very fulfilling and I think the Choir did very well. I hope everyone enjoyed the experience. It is a truly amazing piece.

WW: For you, it's quite different from conducting Handel or Mozart.

AL: We were extremely lucky in that the Sagbutts and Chittarones were almost exactly the ones who played in the seminal John Elliot-Gardiner recording of the piece, so they were able to bring a wealth of experience to the concert. We had a very useful rehearsal with the Chittarones and tenor soloists on the Friday evening beforehand, which helped sort out a lot of the more awkward corners, and once the Sagbutts got going on Saturday we pulled it together remarkably well.

AL: Yes, it's more usually done with either one voice per part or with chamber choirs. I think it's good that big choirs also get a chance to perform pieces like this, even though perhaps musically and aesthetically it's not as true to what Monteverdi might have expected.

AL: Absolutely - on several levels. We have an awful lot of music to cover during the remainder of this calendar year, much of which is completely new to the Wayns, or which you may not have sung for a while. For the next two concerts, Thornden Hall on 22 May and BSO on 19 June, we have very little rehearsal time, even though we are starting rehearsals at 7pm. I'd like to reiterate my earlier plea for every member to put in some note-bashing time at home every week, either on their own or in groups, so I can focus on polishing and interpretation during our time together. The Thornden Hall concert should be a lot of fun, once we get our heads around the German! Then of course we have the Mozart and Haydn concert to look forward to, which will also involve a lot of new music for us all.

AL: Well, don't forget that in the autumn term 2004 we have the St Cecilia Day concert on 20 November, when we'll be doing the Mozart C Minor Mass, last performed by the Wayns in 1989, followed by the Christmas concert on 11 December with Dixit Dominus, which the Wayns have never done, and the Britten St Nicolas. After that we have an unusually early Easter concert on 5 March (Easter is on 27 March next year), which will be the St John Passion, and we are in talks with the Winchester Festival for a concert in July , which will hopefully be the Verdi Requiem. We've got quite a few challenges ahead of us to learn all the notes in time, but on past form I'm confident that we will rise to the occasion!

AL: The response was fantastic. Music@Winchester wrote a really nice letter, in which they said that "the Wayns sang magnificently… to finish at 9:50 pm was a triumph, and got us out of all sorts of difficulties"! Florilegium, too, really enjoyed the performance. Let's face it, they perform Messiah all over the place, but they said it was one of the best they've done.

WW: So how do you feel about the Christmas programme?

AL: Obviously it's too early to comment on the end result, but I think the creative process could have been smoother. I for one never like feeling under-prepared for a concert, even if it does keep people on their toes! I was slightly surprised that some of the music we had rehearsed pre-Messiah hadn't sunk in as well as I had hoped - particularly the Bernstein and the Walton. It's not always possible to rehearse in a linear manner, for one concert after another, and we have to maximise the rehearsal time that we do have together. I'm very grateful to Sarah for having taken the rehearsal in December while I was in Leicester, and people had obviously taken on board a lot of her messages.

AL: The first thing I'd like to emphasise is that we are doing a lot of very good things - as I said, Messiah was splendid. However, it's not safe to assume that just because some members may have sung certain pieces in the past, they will be interpreted in the same way, or even remembered very well, on subsequent occasions! If I may, I'd like to use this opportunity to reinforce my plea for every Wayn to put in at least some effort between rehearsals. Even if you only have 5 minutes a day, try to take a look at the words (especially if they're in another language), perhaps use Hilary's excellent exercises to keep your voice active, or even get some friends around for a note-bashing session (wine helps) if your voice part finds something particularly tricky. We all have to take individual responsibility for our participation in the choir - particularly with some of the more difficult pieces we'll be seeing in future. If we all manage to make the individual effort, the whole experience will be so much more positive for us all collectively.

AL: The piece isn't particularly complicated, and the version we're using is deliberately flexible, but there are some pretty fiddly moments - particularly to do with time changes, as with all music of this period. Some of the Altos might find the tessitura quite low, too! We can't move the whole choir around the building, but we will be looking at moving soloists around to maximise the effect.

AL: The Thornden Hall programming is well under way now - we're looking at some Brahms and Elgar, along with other things. After much discussion, the BSO and I have settled on a Haydn and Mozart programme for June. Music@Winchester has booked us for the St Cecilia Day concert again in November next year, and of course we have the Christmas BSO concert on December 11, in the Cathedral. As we have an earlier finish to the season this summer, we may well carry on into July and try to get ahead on the next set of concerts, with Dixit Dominus being particularly intricate.

AL: We had some very successful voice trials in November, so we are getting some new, good quality voices into the choir. We're also busy with the Choir Schools Association, a government-funded initiative chaired by Brian Rees, that allows choristers to go into schools to help encourage the development of singing. It's good for the boys to be involved in this, even if it puts them under some pressure with their school work. As Martin mentioned, we're exploring the possibility of a joint fundraiser with the Wayns for the Choral Foundation, although it's quite early days and nothing concrete has been decided yet.

P.S. Since the concert on December 13, Andy has been in touch to say thank you for all the efforts everyone made. Despite much illness, he felt there was a lot of good singing and plenty of real energy and communication was put across. He felt the Lauridsen came over particularly well, with the audience being absolutely still - always a good sign! "The Choir rose very well to the challenge!"

After the intense activity of his first Christmas season in charge at Winchester, in early January 2003 Andrew spoke to Wayns World (members newsletter) about his first impressions of the choir, and to outline some of his ideas about the future.

Andrew Lumsden: I think it was nice for all of us to have some time to settle in to new ways of working, given that the Christmas Oratorio is well-known to many of the choir members and not particularly demanding from a choral point of view. It was very good for me, too, to have time on concert day to focus more on the orchestra and soloists than on the choir. I was pretty daunted by the prospect of being in front of such a reputable band and line-up of soloists, but there was a very relaxed and highly professional atmosphere around on the day, and I was very pleased indeed with the outcome. I had a really nice e-mail from Florilegium, too, who said they thought the choir was on good form.

AL: I get nervous before every performance, wherever it is, but I do try to hide it! I do find Bach very challenging, though. I love his music, but every single note is extremely important and that makes interpreting the works very difficult.

With a group like Florilegium, though, they are so experienced, it's just wonderful to be able to let them get on with it! I lean more towards Romantic than Baroque repertoire, in general, so I'm more relaxed in that environment.

WW: So does that mean we can expect to see more Romantic works in our programmes in future?

AL: As with all choral and orchestral concerts, the biggest issue is of course budget. Finances permitting, over the next couple of years I'd like to achieve a balance between some challenging new commissions, some large-scale Romantic works and also some works that bring in audiences. So for example the Fauré concert with the BSO in June is designed to attract an audience, but also to allow me to settle in with the orchestra's way of working. In the Monteverdi concert next March, I'm thinking about using different vocal configurations in various parts of the building, which will be a challenge in itself! And next year I hope we'll see some really interesting concerts on the agenda.

AL: I've actually done very little with large orchestras such as BSO. Except on one notable occasion - we were putting on the Dream of Gerontius in Lichfield, and the orchestra was fixed by a CBSO fiddle-player. At the only rehearsal, which was on concert day, I suddenly realised that the orchestra was the CBSO! It turned out they were all free that evening and liked the work, so there they all were… At least with the BSO I will have more rehearsal time with them, and I'm looking forward to conducting the Schubert and Mendelssohn.

AL: Above all, people in Winchester and in the Wayns have been unbelievably friendly. David is a hard act to follow, but my first term here has been remarkably free of comparisons - positive or otherwise! As someone said to me, Chablis and Châteauneuf-du-Pape are both great wines, but they are very different. Conductors are like that too, and being allowed to get on with my own ideas has been great.

AL: The thing about large choirs is that individual members have different expectations. Some are happy just to have a good sing, others want a very technical and thorough vocal workout, and others want lots of repetition and going over things. It's hard to please everyone, and the important thing is to get the right balance. I prefer to let people have a good sing, and try not to stop and start too much. My aim is to enable people to enjoy their music, and above all to communicate their enjoyment with their audience. A choir that doesn't communicate with its audience does not usually put on an particularly enjoyable performance, whichever side of the rostrum you're on.

AL: For the moment, I'm happy to continue to rehearse on Thursday evenings, to minimise the upheaval for everyone. I have to say here a very big thank-you to Sarah - she has coped wonderfully with transposing down a semitone for the Christmas Oratorio, and having a Creation rehearsal sprung on her at the last minute! The only comment I have is that Pilgrims' Hall is not the optimum place to rehearse - I hate not being able to see all the men (!), the acoustic is less than perfect, and of course the piano is a law unto itself…! But let's not let that spoil our enjoyment of the rehearsal experience, and of Haydn's wonderful work, and I'm really looking forward to a great 2003 with The Wayns.

Tickets for The Waynflete Singers' Winchester concerts are available from Music at Winchester

The Brooks Shopping Centre, Winchester, SO23 8QY Tel: 01962 877977 - Fax: 01962 877654

Please send comments on this website to the Web Manager,
David Reece web@waynfletesingers.org.uk

	*The Waynflete Singers*
	Home	About Us	Future Concerts	Past Concerts	Recordings	Contact Us	Sponsorship	Friends	News	Links	Members Page