A Colorful Chorus: An Inside Look at SVU’s Chamber Singers
By Sydney Crandall
Tie bouncing over his purple button-up shirt and loose gray cardigan, Dr. Nielsen explosively and animatedly leads his chorus of 35 strong. Independent of the music stand, he conducts in a sort of dance in front of the chorus, his passion for the music evident in both, his face and the extremity with which he moves, indicating dynamics and other cues to the Chamber Singers. He moves between parts of the music and sections of his vocalists, leaning into crescendos and pulling back to create contrast., oOne of the most memorable musical punches is accented with a sharp kick of his leg. The importance and high regard with which he holds both his singers and the music itself is evident in the way Dr. Nielson conducts them.
Obvious, as well, is the enjoyment that the singers themselves find in their craft., Ttalking and loudly laughing amongst themselves in the echoey room, but always being ready to cut off and begin singing at the slightest signal of Dr. Nielson’s hand. Dr. Nielson remains friendly, but focused, allowing for looseness and enjoyment while also being serious in his intention as well as the members of the choir’s intention to work hard and perform to the best of their ability.
Chamber Singers’ rehearsal begins at 3:30 pm sharp, and not a minute later. It is the vocalists responsibility to arrive having already completed extensive vocal warm-ups and exercises, ensuring the health of their voices and readiness to dive into the numbers that Dr. Nielson has prepared. The unity of the choir is very obvious to any outsider, as they interact both with each other and their director. They take great responsibility for their personal performance in the music, the practice of a small hand raise in the middle of a song — indicating their acknowledgement of a small mistake they made and are willing to fix — being quite common. They support and balance each other out well. The result being a sound that resonates in a goose-bump causing fashion off of the walls of the Main Hall Ballroom.
Chamber Singers perform often in University Forums and can be heard in their next concert as well as the combined choir concert on December 3.
