Good vibrations -- singing with the choir: Stacy Horn at TEDxMontclair

[@ewalker7431]

I was a full-time practicing lawyer when I started singing with a choir in my mid-30s. Five years later, I started singing in opera choruses, taking lessons and working to be the best I could be. That work, that regular showing up for choir and chorus rehearsals, Sunday Church services and the opera practice and shows kept me from being driven nuts by the work. I remember standing behind the curtain while the orchestra played the overture to Carmen, and saying to my singing friends, There is no where on earth I'd rather be.

[@StacyNYC]

Amen. I envy your singing in opera choruses!

[@stpeterssingers]

So true singing within a group makes you feel great and so eloquently expressed!! Our choral director often say that a choir that "eats and drinks together will also sing together". Just one more reason to sing in a choir.

[@StacyNYC]

Thank you so much for stopping by and watching my video!

[@wweinmann1949]

Thank you for an EXCELLENT talk, Stacy

[@StacyNYC]

Thank you for watching!

[@ElizabethHNorton]

Amen, Stacy! Beautifully said.

[@Rhonda900]

I thought I was alone...I always feel better after choir rehearsals and performances but I could never pin point why or explain it to anyone who never sang in a group. Thank you Stacy!

[@StacyNYC]

+Rhonda900 You're most welcome! It's a pleasure to talk about singing though.

[@marypickering1908]

Stacy kudos to you for putting into words and sharing what so many singers know to be true. Great talk. Loved it!

[@StacyNYC]

My pleasure, totally. (Except for the scary part about public speaking!)

[@karlaallingham5103]

This This This 1,000 times THIS!!!! Thank you so much, Stacy. I will have to read your book! Your experience sounds somewhat similar to mine. I sang in choirs throughout high school and college, and briefly in a church choir after I graduated, but then a little thing called "life" intervened and I decided that I was too busy with work and such and just did not have time to sing Flash forward 15 years: last March I was fired from my job, the culmination of a very difficult 3-year period, and I became very, very depressed. A friend convinced me to start going to a weekly book club with her, and one night the conversation turned to music, and I mentioned that I used to sing. Another woman invited me to join the choir at her church (no auditions, thank heaven, just singing some scales for section placement!) I was terrified the night of my first rehearsal, but I needed to get out of the house so I went anyhow, and everyone was so welcoming and friendly. The music, mostly standard church stuff, was not as hard as some things I have sung, but not the easiest either, and I was amazed how quickly things came back to me. I left that rehearsal feeling better than I had in months. I am still singing in that choir today, and have joined a choir at a local community college as well. I honestly believe that going back to singing may have saved my life. Now I know why. :'-) In addition I want to say Thank You for giving props to traditional choral singing and classical music. These days when you say you are in choir most people think show choirs and "Glee," and while that certainly has its place, there is nothing to me that compares with singing traditional choral music. The sense of awe and accomplishment that comes from mastering a piece like Handel's "Messiah" or the Brahms' Requiem, or a modern piece by someone like Arvo Part or Eric Whitacre, is greater to me anyway than singing a Top 40 song arranged for choir. I hope more people find their way to choirs and start singing. Thank you again for this, and much love to choral singers everywhere! :-)

[@StacyNYC]

Thank you for your very gratifying post! When I wrote my book I interviewed a lot of people, and I asked everyone what brought them to the choir, and a lot of people said something along the lines of they felt something was missing in their lives and they realized it was music. And the community that comes with a choir.

[@TheDivineMsBrooks]

Chorus singing leaves me with an immense out-of-body experience that lasts for days. Thank you for your inspiring message. #StillSinging

[@StacyNYC]

Yes, it is both an out-of-body experience, but also very much in the body at the same time!

[@vijayraj5757]

I have enjoyed choral singing since 3rd grade church choir and have had the privilege to sing under the baton of Eugene Ormandy with the Philadelphia Orchestra and record for RCA Victor back in the late 60's. I have sung with the State College Choral Society for 32 years. Our choir has singers ranging in age from the early 20's to over 80 yo. The wonder of choral singing is that you don't need to have a good voice but there are several requirements to achieve an excellent sound and they are: work hard to learn your music, struggle to stay in tune, listen to your fellow singers to blend (you're not a soloist) and look at and listen to the conductor-'the maestro is always right'.

[@StacyNYC]

I envy you your choral history! But you make a point I like to make, "It never stops working." Singing with other people always makes you feel better, and this will be true for the rest of your life.

[@coroseminario7850]

A friend of mine always says "Singing tunes your soul."

[@jeryllebantuan9735]

Oh God. Thank you so much Stacey!

[@StacyNYC]

+Jerylle Bantuan My pleasure!

[@TenorReacts]

Thank you Stacy for such an interesting insightful talk.

[@JulsNJ]

Stacy, I'm watching this now!! WOW!!!!

[@StacyNYC]

Julie, thank you so much for your support!! Virtual Choir people are the BEST.

[@ellendegenova5736]

Thanks for reminding me why singing is such an important aspect of wholeness and well-being. Loved your book, "Imperfect Harmony."

[@StacyNYC]

Thank you and thank you for loving my book!! Working on it was so much fun I wish I could write another book about singing and music.

[@helenkenistononey7019]

Absolutely excellent! Every word is true in my experience.

[@JJH59]

Thanks for posting. I also liked your book, which affirmed the 30+ years I've been singing with a small church choir. In addition, for a dozen years I've been singing weekly with a Shape Note group, which wonderfully complements the choir work. Both groups are sustaining communities.

[@StacyNYC]

Thank you! I keep meaning to trying shape note singing. Everyone who does it clearly loves it.

[@kayoneal8489]

I couldn't comment on Echo so I came here. This brought me to tears, throughout. Well done!

[@StacyNYC]

Thank you!!

[@CourtneyPulitzer]

Great talk Stacy! It's true--I've experienced the same benefits you mentioned and am thrilled to see you share this part of your story here.

[@StacyNYC]

Wait, did I know you were a singer? (I have the worst memory.)

[@myraweiss6126]

What a wonderful presentation, Stacy! So informative and producing of ideas that don't even have to do with singing! Much metta, Myra

[@StacyNYC]

Myra, thank you! It's interesting, what you point out. Yeah.

[@rgordonk]

Thanks for sharing this...I think it's all absolutely true.

[@StacyNYC]

I'm going to clog up these comments but I want to thank everyone for the feedback!

[@allespaula]

I loved your book! Your talk summarizes the high points beautifully.

[@StacyNYC]

Thank you so much for reading my book! And for liking it! I had so much fun researching that book. I wish I could do a part 2.

[@gwynnavere]

Wonderful talk. I have shared on Facebook and with Endeavour Harmony Chorus, my chorus of 90 glorious female voices in Sydney Australia.

[@StacyNYC]

Hello Sydney! Thank you so much for sharing my talk on Facebook and with your chorus!!

[@harrietg]

This is wonderful! Congratulations!

[@StacyNYC]

Thank you!

[@envizualize]

Lovely video. I have always had fun when I sang in groups. Not religious, so would want something secular if I were to look now.

[@StacyNYC]

I'm not religious, which is why I sing in a community choir. But I do love sacred music. That said, I can understand preferring to sing secular music. There are all kinds of singing groups out there, so you should be able to find a secular one if you decide to start looking.

[@jjudijo]

My director's head would explode if she saw any cell unit/photographic device within the choral group, especially in performance, whether by her "students" or "adults". LOL Great talk. I pray more find a path to a great choral group. I was always an instrumentalist but I knew I could hold a tune. It is a grand leap, but well worth it once you hit the ground again.

[@StacyNYC]

Oh God, my director's head would explode too, I asked for permission first. I was surprised he said yes, but I think he also hopes my efforts will lure more people to give choral singing a try.

[@jjudijo]

Stacy Horn :-) I hope it does. I am a female tenor. Community choirs only exist because people show up. There is ALWAYS something to learn.

[@catsnharps]

Where is this? Wonderful

[@StacyNYC]

Thank you! This was at TEDX Montclair, which was held at Montclair State University on November 9, 2013. The theme was Eat, Play, Live.

[@apr28]

Am I crazy? She says B Minor Mass, but I could swear that's Selig sind from the Brahms Requiem, no?

[@StacyNYC]

I do mention the B Minor Mass, but I didn't mean that was what we were singing in the clip, which you are absolutely right, that was the Brahms Requiem! I was actually trying to mention a different piece of music each time, but my brain didn't always find one. I wanted to mention a living composer or two!

[@dapperdanvideos]

thanks mr henri lol