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| Catherine Bott |
Catherine Bott |
| How I started singing |
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| When I changed schools at 11, I joined the choir - all girls, run by an ambitious music teacher. I could already read music and found that I was good at sightreading, which made choir practice more fun. One day, we were rehearsing for a concert, and one of the numbers was an arrangement of an English folksong about a sailor and his bride. The funny thing is that I can't remember the title of the song, but I can still sing the last soaring phrase, more than 40 years later. The song had such a happy, emotional ending, that I took a deep breath for this last phrase and went for it, heartfelt and open-throated. The other girls turned to stare at me and I blushed - so it was me that had made that big sound. A couple of years later I started having singing lessons, which led to music college and a solo classical career, but that was the moment when I discovered how much singing meant to me. |
| Why I love it |
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When I was one of the judges for Choir of the Year 2006 I said that choral singing "is good for your heart, your soul and your social life" and I stand by that!
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