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• 1st birthday!—28th Sept 07
• Artsfest—16th Sept 07
• Moseley Festival workshop—26th June 07

1st birthday!—28th Sept 07, by Sarra

In honour of Magenta's first birthday, one of our number, Myra Connell, wrote a piece for B13 Magazine. We've kindly been given permission to reproduce it here. Enjoy!

Directing a women's close-harmony choir has long been an ambition for Liz Garnett.

Last September she began to nudge her dream into shape. Leaflets advertised an initial meeting of the choir, which she called "Magenta" ("it's a vivid, positive colour, yet a mixture"). At the meeting they worked up a song ("Shine on Me", still in the repertoire), and those who were keen to do more were given a form to fill in. The form asked, "Who do you most admire, and why?" What Liz was looking for in her choir members, and what she fosters with her own unfaltering enthusiasm, was the quality of "gumption" that meant they would (a) have a go, (b) stick with it, and (c) develop the star quality needed for performance. To each rehearsal, Liz brings her mysterious blue plush bag, out of which three people get to pick a guiding value for the session: drawn from what we admired about our heroes, these might include "integrity", "great tone", or "razzmatazz". Chameleon-like, we pick up each other's delight along with the notes.

What's special about this music?  » unfold rest of article...

What's special about this music? In rehearsal we do something called "lock and ring". We sing a note and listen out ahead of and above ourselves: when the voices come together, the sound is unearthly, with overtones ringing high up in the rafters. During a song the four parts clash and resonate as we go in and out of this extraordinary ringing. It is pleasure in the sound that inspires Liz: it's like the feeling of hitting the tennis ball right on the sweet spot of the racquet.

The Magenta repertoire ranges from Madonna to the blues, from the beautiful and soulful "Long Sky" (written by choir member Liz Johnson), to the boppy "Happy Together". All the songs are arranged by Liz Garnett, whose book, The British Barbershopper: A Study in Socio-Musical Values, was published in 2005. Barbershop, she says, "can be very regimented. I wanted the qualities of the individuals in the choir (qualities of voices, and of personalities) to impact more directly on our sound and performing style".

Magenta has already wowed audiences around Birmingham: at the Kitchen Garden cabaret; at the Adrian Boult Hall; and most recently at Artsfest. Unbiased observers talk about our "infectious delight in singing"; our "panache and style"; our "varied and adventurous repertoire". They say we are refreshing, professional, and "all-round wonderful". Joe Seager, Chairman of the Birmingham Chamber Music Society, wrote to us: "I loved your music — the sound, the style and all the material. A real joy. I can see the Magenta magic casting quite a spell."

Over the next two years Liz wants Magenta to be making a significant contribution to Birmingham's musical life. Beyond that, she sees us getting involved in one-off projects with, for instance, artists or film-makers. For now, Magenta is available for bookings: a half-hour of close-harmony will bring magic to any occasion!

Artsfest—16th Sept 07, by Liz G

On 16 September, Magenta performed two spots at Artsfest. The Council House and the Industrial Gallery in the BM&AG are perfect spaces for a cappella harmony.

 
click pictures to see larger versions

 

 

Moseley Festival workshop—26th June 07, by Vicki

I heard about the workshop at the very last minute. I happened to be working with Kate that day and she was planning to go along as the venue was just across from her house. The workshop had been arranged as part of the Moseley Festival.

As soon as Kate told me about the workshop I was really keen to go along with her and I am so glad that I did.

The workshop was attended by about twenty people including members of Magenta. There were women from a variety of cultures and age groups. Everyone was made to feel really welcome. There was no necessity to be able to read music and no expectation that you had to be a great singer. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming. We were there to enjoy ourselves and we did!

The workshop was excellent. We began by...  » unfold rest of article...

The workshop was excellent. We began by warming up and stretching - really important for good singing. We then did some vocal warm ups which can be a bit embarrassing at first - pulling funny faces and making strange noises in front of a group of total strangers! Then we got down to the hard work. The song we learned was "Mamma Mia". Liz Garnett leading the session taught us the chorus of the song one part at a time. Liz is very inspirational. She exudes enthusiasm which is extremely infectious and impossible to resist.

After a short tea break, members of Magenta entertained us with 3 or 4 songs from their repertoire. When they sang "Cry Me A River" I had tears in my eyes it was so moving.

Then it was back to work, putting the four separate parts we had learned together to create an amazing sound. People began to arrive to meet their friends at the end of the workshop and we ended up giving them an impromptu performance of "Mamma Mia" in four parts. The audience were captivated. It was hard to believe that in less than one hour we were standing there taking our applause.

Kate and I were hooked. We decided straight away that we had to be part of this incredible group of women. The workshop was extremely uplifting and we all left on a real high.

We have been a part of Magenta ever since. We never could have imagined that three months later we would have been performing six numbers at Birmingham's Artsfest 2007.

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