English philosopher and physician John Locke said, ‘The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others.’ The same was true of two accomplished singers Maria Forsström and Lena Moén from Sweden who arrived in Goa to help share their knowledge with singers, soloists and choir singers in Goa, especially the Goa University Choir led by Chair Professor on Western Music, Dr Santiago Lusardi.
Maria Forsström
graduated first as a church musician and choir conductor from the Royal College
of Music in Stockholm. Her early studies at the Guildhall School of Music and
Drama in London focused on Baroque and Classical ornamentation, completing her
studies with orchestra conducting at the Rimsky- Korsakov Conservatory in St
Petersburg. She has performed with orchestras like the Mahler Chamber
Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the Warsaw Philharmony
Orchestra, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra,
the Helsinki National Opera Orchestra, and Musica Aeterna, Perm, Russia,
performing on opera stages in Europe, Russia and Japan.
Lena Moén, a soprano
singer, got her education as singer, coach and organist from the Royal College
of Music in Stockholm and Trondelag Music Conservatory in Trondheim, Norway.
She leads several choirs from Sweden and is a vocal coach and concert singer.
She has conducted master classes with pianist Matti Hirvonen and Dorothy
Irving. She has participated in the Scandinavian Bach Academy, and in 2006, she
was one of the performers at the Kirsten Flagstad anniversary in Hamar, Norway.
Lena frequently works with various orchestras such as the Swedish Baroque
Orchestra, the Tallin Baroque, the Nordic Chamber Orchestra and Nordland’s
Baroque Orchestra, Norway.
Coming to Goa, they were both impressed by the vocal repertoire
of the Goan singers. “We are impressed with the GU Choir singers, as the
students did it beautifully. It is a very plausible attitude towards learning,
especially from a dynamic and varied group. We both have been to India before a
few times offering vocal workshops, but in Goa, this is the first time with the
GU choir,” says Maria.
The Goa University Choir has embarked on several projects with
international figures since 2018. Carnegie Hall Resident Composer Martin
Palmeri visited the GU campus for the premiere in India of its world famous
Misatango; the GU Choir had a collaboration with the director of the English
National Opera (ENO), maestro Martin Brabbins for a production of the 9th
Beethoven Symphony with the SOI Symphony Orchestra of India at the NCPA in
January 2019 and the choir also had collaborations with international choirs
such as the Oxford Somerville College Choir (UK), King B Choir (UK) in February
2019 for the world premiere of the Passion Landscapes Oratorio, a large piece
written especially for GU Choir.
“This academic year promises even more interesting projects,
starting with this course offered by Maria and Lena, world-class soloists and
pedagogues of solo and choral singing. The agenda for this year includes new
music productions with the SOI-NCPA in Mumbai, the visit of artists from the
Berkley Music Conservatory (US) in July 2019 and a ‘star music project’ with
maestro Ariel Alonso, Chair of the Choir Conduction of the Paris Conservatory
and Master of the Choirs and Orchestras of the centennial Sorbonne University
of Paris, France,” says Dr Santiago. The GU Choir will be recording its second
album in the month of October 2019 with original choral repertoire and
launching repertoire recovered by Dr Santiago of ancient manuscripts by Goan
Maestro Anthony Gonsalves.
The quality of a choir depends directly on the growth of each
one of its members. This master class of three days has allowed the GU Choir
singers to detect limitations and find ways to continue growing as a vocal
group. “A very good choir can achieve high levels if they keep on working hard.
In some moments, the master class reminded us of the beautiful sounds of some
very good Swedish Church choirs. I was quite impressed with all of them. They
all have different issues to resolve but responded beautifully with a very open
mind attitude towards learning. We did intensive work, some of the student
showed changes very fast, and moved into a much deeper and fuller sound only in
a few sessions,” says Lena.
Maria and Lena did two choral sessions for the full choir (45
members) and a 22 hours master class workshop with individual sessions where
students could interact directly with the teachers. A total of 23 students
registered for individual sessions and worked in direct interaction with the
vocal teachers, each of them prepared a solo piece and sung it on their
session. As well, the GU Choir worked on their own repertoire. They worked on
different aspects of the singing technique, and on interpretation, posture,
emission and articulation.
To conclude, Maria explains how the singers can improve on their vocals even after the workshop. “We offered different ways and exercises to resolve their own limitations on technique and also different options for the students to improve their singing. We have suggested complementing their vocal training with music theory education, which many of them are already doing,” says Maria.