Bandstanding: ‘Singing in a choir just feels good’

‘Singing in a choir just feels really good.’

Musician, composer, conductor and teacher Alex Alford first picked up a flute at Swanson Primary, added some other instruments at Henderson Intermediate and Henderson High School, and, at Auckland University, bagged a Bachelor of Music with honours and Master of Music Composition with first class honours.

“Community music is something I have been involved in for a long time. I play tuba in the West City Concert Band and run a few school choirs and ensembles, as well as being president of the Auckland Youth Symphonic Band and the Auckland Wind Orchestra, and playing in both groups. Additionally, I’m on the executive of the New Zealand Concert Bands Association.”

Alex is also the Music Director of the Waitākere Voices Choir. “Waitākere Voices was formed in 1998, and started out as an evening class. Later on it morphed into a community choir. To the best of my knowledge there have been only a few conductors in the 23 years the choir has been running – Evelyn Hatfield, Barbara Bentham and myself. In high school I always wanted to be up the front of a group waving hands around, and my school friends enjoyed a good laugh at me for virtually conducting the classical music that plays through the Henderson train station and council building over-bridge.”

By the age of 19 Alex was indeed the conductor of the choir. “I was also the youngest member for a while, but now we have a young singer who is in high school. Conducting a community choir is 40% teaching, 50% administration, and 10% actual conducting, so there was a bit of a learning curve involved there”.

Typically the demographic of Waitākere Voices is older adults, people who enjoy singing but who aren’t trained in music, in general. “Our singers come from all parts of the community – we have teachers, accountants, a MOTAT tram driver, an architect, an electrician. Everyone gets on really well and we’re really welcoming to new singers”.

Under normal circumstances the choir would meet and rehearse once a week at Laidlaw College in Henderson. “We sing lots of different music. Our midyear concert this year featured all New Zealand composers – I think we had three or four world premières in that concert. Previously we have sung songs from musicals, movies, shows, alongside choral works, pop songs, a couple of classical songs, and of course Christmas music. A couple of years ago we teamed up with some local artists from West Auckland and put on a combined art and music show which was really exciting”. Alex says the health and wellbeing benefits from singing in a choir are huge “To start with, there’s the sense of community – meeting people from all walks of life and interacting with people outside of one’s regular workspace and environment. Singing in a choir is also really good for the brain. You’re learning a language, you’re co-ordinating lots of different parts of your brain, from speech, to emotions, diction, rhythm and listening. Added to that, the act of singing with other people releases dopamine and endorphins – chemicals associated with reward and positive experiences. Simply, singing in a choir just feels really good.”

The choir has not been immune to Covid. “Until last year’s initial lockdown we were on track to hit 40 regular members, but every lockdown has meant we have lost singers. It’s the same for many community groups – out of an abundance of caution, or newly developed habits, people are simply staying home more. We will have to drop down to Level 1 (or the traffic light equivalent) before we are able to rehearse safely. It’s hard to plan concerts with this uncertainty so we’re looking to make a clean start next year when we’re able.”

With his teacher’s hat on Alex says he’s looking forward to getting back to school and reconnecting with students and colleagues. And, he’s looking forward to resuming choir and band rehearsals. “The whole reason we make music is to share the enjoyment of doing so. In the meantime I’ll be live-streaming, filming, and recording a collection of school musical performances and end of year prizegiving assemblies – it’s a bit more technical than the choral direction but still lots of fun!”

Waitākere Voices are tentatively planning shows for 2022. “We’re looking forward to a concert in April with the West City Youth Concert Band, featuring a tonne of super-cool movie, TV and video game soundtracks. The choir’s Facebook page will have all of the details once we’ve locked them down (no pun intended).”

If you’d like to know more about, or join the choir, go to facebook. com/wvoiceschoir or the website waitakerevoices.nz. And you can contact Alex and the team at wvoiceschoir@gmail.com.