Through Writing Château-du-Loir
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It happened a few weeks ago Tours to lead the choir of the O.feathers. Meeting with David Jackson.
News: Why did you leave the UK to come and work on the continent?
David Jackson:
I followed the music! After graduating from the Royal Conservatory of Scotland I was immediately offered a position as vocal coach at the Cologne Opera in Germany. Since that moment I have never looked back and have reveled in the challenges, discoveries and professional and personal encounters that come with life abroad.
I was welcomed with open arms and the discussions were fascinating from the start.
Have you had time to get to know the city of Tours?
DJ: I’m taking my marks, I only arrived a month ago. But thanks to this new position, I managed from the start to establish contacts with the Tourangeaux people through the direction of two choirs: La Chorale Populaire, an amateur choir open to all from the age of 7 and with no experience required, and À Voix Hautes , a choir made up of homeless people from the city. I was welcomed with open arms and the discussions were fascinating from the start. I look forward to seeing how these projects will evolve in the months to come.
Could you describe the job of a choir director?
DJ: The goal is simple: make several people sing with one voice! Being at the theater with the professional choir, spending my Saturday morning with the Chorale Populaire or my Friday followingnoon with À Voix Hautes. The goals of these projects vary, but the mission remains the same: to unite voices in a common sound. Everyone has a voice, but the collective strength and benefits of singing together far outweigh individual effort.
How did you come to this job?
DJ: From my early childhood in England, I had the good fortune to be an altar boy at York Minster. I was then able to benefit from good training in choir singing and music theory from an early age. These beginnings gave me the confidence and passion that I needed to continue working with choirs. I was then the choir director of the chapel of my university (University College, Durham University) in which I led the mass. Some songs were recorded as “God so loved the World” by Lammas Records, and we even went on tour with the choir. We finally won the prize for best choir during the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh.
After training as a vocal coach at the Royal Scottish Conservatory in Glasgow and growing experience in many theatres, the meeting of my two passions seemed quite natural, becoming an opera choir conductor was only a question of time.
You are also a composer, where is it possible to listen to your music?
DJ: For example, I played the role of conductor and pianist for the album “Poldowski re/imagined” with the Ensemble 1904 (Resonus Classics), a small chamber music group with which we recorded the 22 Verlaine pieces written by the very unjustly forgotten composer Poldowski, whose real name is Irene Wieniawski.
I write many reductions, which consists of adapting a piece to make it accessible to a smaller set of singers. As a result, I recently reworked some excerpts from Mendelssohn, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater and Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.
Could you tell us regarding the upcoming program at the Opéra de Tours and give us your opinion on it?
DJ: The year promises to be rich, varied and exciting, there will be something for everyone! I had the immense privilege of starting the season preparing the choir for “Thaïs” by Michel Plasson and Massenet. Magnificent discoveries are to come with lesser-known pieces such as “La Caravane du Caire” by Guétry or “Frédégonde” by Camille Saint-Saëns. Then classics like Werther by Massenet or the Requiem by Fauré conducted by Michel Piquemal with the Vittoria choir.
For the Fête de la Musique, the Chorale Populaire will join the Opera choir at the Grand Théâtre to give the public an opportunity to glimpse the hard work and sincere involvement of amateur singers alongside professionals. Certainly the most symbolic moment of the year, the perfect summary of everything I try to accomplish at the Opéra de Tours.
What is the piece of music you have the most fun conducting?
DJ: I can’t say that I have one in particular. Each piece of music has something to say, the main pleasure in conducting comes from uniting the voices around a message, a color, an emotion, then being able to transmit that to the public.
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