Two things set the choir Musica Spei apart from most musical groups you know. One is that they focus on music that is very old – from the middle ages and Renaissance – and the other is that no one is really in charge.
One of the singers, Tyler Cassidy-Heacock explained, “For individual pieces, some group members will step up and say ‘this is interesting to me, I have an idea on how I might like to propose an interpretation - Let me come back with some suggestions’. Rehearsal is a bit like taking those ideas that someone has proposed, and then everyone else weighing in on how they feel about them. Which is really exciting and really dynamic.”
It works, though she says a little structure helps: “In a typical rehearsal, we do have a couple of group members that function as rehearsal directors, just to keep pure chaos from breaking out.”
Cassidy-Heacock has been singing with Musica Spei for the past few years. She was hooked after participating in one of their Renaissance “Summer Sings”, which are open to new singers curious about this music.
“We can see this as a kind of musical time travel. It’s fair to say that not many people have ever heard this music, and very few have chosen to put it in their voices and into the air since the time when it was more popular.”
She describes this contact with the past as exciting to “bring all your knowledge and your experience as a 21st century person to something that has lain in obscurity for so long.”
Musica Spei is celebrating twenty years of singing with a series of performances, including a lunchtime concert on Live from Hochstein Wednesday May 18th at noon, and performances on Friday St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Auburn at 7:30pm, and Saturday at 8pm at St Anne Church in Rochester.
You can find details on the concerts and how to participate in the Renaissance Summer Sings on the Musica Spei website: http://www.musicaspei.org/