The sky is riven with angels singing

Well, it wasn't quite like that last Sunday when our choir had its annual performance at the opening of the International Women's Club Christmas Bazaar at the Avenue Mall shopping centre - but almost. 'Cause even though we're far from being a professional choir, we have a lot of heart and soul and that's ultimately what gives you your wings, doesn't it!

The IWC Christmas Bazaar is an annual event where members prepare goodies from their home countries, from t-shirts to food to souvenirs, and donate all proceedings to some Croatian charity or other. It's the third time that we've opened the Bazzar, each time belting out three songs that our Kappellmeister chooses (we've decided to give them a bit of a "show" next year as a lot of the people in the audience sort of waited around expecting more). This year we sang "Angelus ad virginem", a Rennaissance song, "Ding, dong, merrily on high", another Rennaissance song and "O, Pastiri", a Croatian song composed by Ivan pl. Zajc, someone more famous for his operas than Christmas carols.

Our first performance started way on back when one of the members of our choir was the then President of the IWC and asked us if we would mind singing at the Bazaar. Of course not, we shouted in one voice. And even though my stomach was in a knot and I felt on several occasions like going to the lady's and expelling my breakfast (which, I'd like to add, I ate at 5 am), I quite enjoyed the experience, as we all did. Like our Kappellmeister says, getting over stage fright simply takes practise - the more you perform in front of an audience, the less the fear factor gets. So much so, he says, that you start craving performing in front of people, sometimes to the chagrin of the audience...

Well, we're gonna get some more practise when we sing at a convalescent home next Saturday. Appropriate, since the money raised from this year's Bazaar is going to two convalescent homes in Slavonia. And I'm sure the old folks won't mind if we sing out of tune or too loud at times - from what I understand, your hearing declines with age...

Anyways, here are a few photos from this year's Bazaar:

A little (well, not so little) Dutch girl on the wrong side of Amsterdam

Was too chicken to ask him what was under his kilt...

What else would the Americans promote but - le McDo?

An obliging German in lederhosen. Great legs, eh!

The Chinese stand

The Polish stand

Some German goodies

Some Eastern goodies

PS hubby recorded the whole event but I can't find the USB jack to connect the camrecorder to my laptop so I can't show you how our choir sings for the moment. Soon, soon, I promise...

I don't like Mondays (actually, I do!)

Now, many people are gonna say I'm a total and utter nut when they read this, but Monday is one of my favourite days of the week. This wasn't always the case, especially about two years ago when I was still working at "The Firm" where non-stop pressure, deadlines and bosses breathing down your neck were the norm. No, back then, Monday was definitely not on top of my favourite days of the week list. It was number 7, just behind Sunday...

But now, I love Mondays and can't wait for them. More specifically, I can't wait for 8pm on a Monday night. 'Cause that's when choir starts.

Lots of people ask me, "how did you find out about your choir?" Well, I found out about it the same way people find out about anything these days - on the net. It was just after a holiday in Australia and I decided, I have to sing again. So I typed "tecaj pjevanje Hrvatska" (singing course Croatia) into Google and my kappellmeister and his choir were the first thing that popped up. I have to say that it's the best net discovery that I've ever made.

Our choir ain't no ordinary choir. For a start, none of us can sing to save our lives. We all sing a bit out of tune or too nasally or don't open our voices enough or whatever. No Celine Dions or Andrea Boccellis in sight. But you know what? We don't give a toss! 'Cause the beauty of our choir is that we do more than sing there. We talk, we laugh, we cringe (especially when we do solos, which our kappellmeister invariably forces us to do at least once every couple of weeks. It's definitely something that everyone should do as often as possible. Nothing better for building your self-confidence). But most importantly, we listen. And believe me, in this day and age, listening is a lost art, something that we all have to practice every so often. As our kappellmeister says, it's easier to sing a solo than to listen to someone else do it.

The exercises and singing technique are based on the work of Valborg Werbeck-Svadstrom and her book entitled "Uncovering the voice". I won't go into too much detail here, I'll just say that the exercises to the novice are more than just a bit bizarre - from the tongue exerices, where you have to sing "hrya" on four tones while slowly sticking your tongue out so that it touches your chin to singing an octave of "brr", like a horse when it whinnies, while moving your head from left to right going up the scale and from right to left going down the scale - and she felt that singing could change a person for the better. And I totally agree with her - if everyone sang just 10 minutes a day, it would do wonders for them and believe me, the world would be a much nicer place to live in!

So, if you ever happen to be on 239 Vukovar Avenue in Zagreb of a Monday night at around 10 pm and you see a group of people humming with huge smiles on their faces and a spring in their step as they make their way towards their cars or the tram stop, you'll know it's our choir.

If you want to find out more, go to http://www.orpheus.hr/index-english.htm