I will start out this piece by refuting a common misconception: I am not a music major! Nor am I a minor. xWhen I graduate from Swat, the word music will be nowhere on my diploma. However, I am a singer at heart. Developing my vocal skills and singing in groups is a source of joy in my life and it keeps me sane when the rest of my life is out of control. Luckily, I go to Swat, where there are a plethora of musical options for me to engage in without being a major or minor. To give you a sense of just a few of these options, I thought I’d walk you through a week of singing at swat.
Let’s start bright and early on Sunday morning at 11:30. I know that doesn’t sound early, but we consistently start about seven minutes late because people have a hard time getting out of bed on a Sunday morning. My a cappella group, Offbeat, rehearses for two hours every Sunday morning. I really like the motivation to get up and out on a Sunday, and it’s a great chance to hang out with some of my favorite people before I head to McCabe to work for the rest of the day! On any given Sunday, we could be working on arranging songs, auditioning soloists, learning or memorizing new pieces in preparation for a performance.
On Monday, I have a vocal coaching session for a half hour. Swat’s private lesson program is one of the reasons I ended up coming here. Through a class called Music 048, students can take private lessons for any instrument or voice part with a professional instructor for subsidized rates. You get a half credit per semester and get the chance to perform for the music faculty at the end of each semester to show how you’ve grown. As part of the vocal lesson program, voice students get lessons with a vocal coach, Debra Scurto-Davis, who accompanies our juries and works with us on diction and musicality. I always love my sessions with Debra, who is an incredible pianist and even better teacher. After my session with Debra, I head to the Lang Concert Hall for a two hour Garnet Singers rehearsal. Garnet Singers is the smaller, more selective chamber singing group at Swat. We work on more challenging repertoire and it’s a really serious group of singers whom I love working with. After a quick trip down to the dining hall for dinner with friends, it’s back up the Lang music building for another two hour Offbeat rehearsal! Then, off to bed after a long day of singing.
Tuesday is my chance to rest my voice! All this singing can be a lot to handle so I try to take care of my vocal chords as much as possible while building my vocal stamina.
Wednesday at 7pm I’m back in Lang Concert Hall for two hours of chorus rehearsal. Side note – one of my favorite things about the music department at swat is that all the ensembles rehearse in the Lang Concert Hall, so you get to always be rehearsing in the space you perform in. It makes the concert hall feel a little bit more like home, and it’s really special to get to rehearse in such a beautiful space so often. Chorus is an ensemble open to singers of all levels, and it’s a big group of over 80 students, faculty, staff, and community members. I really love singing in chorus, it’s so fun to sing with such a big group. We have really fun juice breaks in the middle of our Wednesday rehearsals which . After chorus, the section leader octet rehearses. Each section of the chorus (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) has two section leaders that help take attendance, lead rehearsals, and help with general organization. Starting a few years ago, the section leaders have had an octet where we work on a few songs a semester to perform at our end of semester concerts. I’ve really enjoyed the chance to work on some very challenging repertoire with such a committed group of singers.
On Thursday I will sometimes have chorus sectional from 7-8pm. Every section of the chorus – soprano, alto, tenor, and bass has about two sectionals a semester where Nathan works with the section on especially difficult parts of the music. Sectionals are fun because we meet in the Presser room, which is a smaller rehearsal space next to the concert hall. After sectional Garnet singers meets from 8-9pm. Another great rehearsal!
Friday, I have a voice lesson in the afternoon. My voice teacher is Lara Nie, who is an incredible professional soprano vocalist who has taught voice at Swarthmore for going on ten years. I have worked with her since my freshman fall and I love every lesson I have with her. She is a wonderful teacher and has helped my growth as a singer and performer so much. We’ve worked on a ton of really fun repertoire including some Aaron Copland settings of Emily Dickinson poems and some arias from the opera The Ballad of Baby Doe by Douglas Moore.
Then Saturday is another day off from singing! I hope this gives a sense of the kind of depth you can get in your time at Swarthmore. Even though I’m not a music major, the Swarthmore music department gives me so many different to work on my craft as a vocalist throughout my time here, and I am incredibly grateful for that.
