On the occasion of Amalgamation Choir’s tenth anniversary, the group that became known worldwide after their performance at Westminster Abbey, its conductor (and soul) talks about their upcoming concert titled “Clay,” women’s solidarity through collective singing, and the work behind giving voice to thirty women.
–What’s going through your mind a few days before Amalgamation Choir’s concert at Markideio Theatre?
The thought of finding a way to convey—even minimally—the authentic dynamic magic that this group of women emits when they’re together behind closed doors.
–Why did you choose to title the performance “Clay”?
Through this concert, we aim to explore the “plasticity” of clay as a concept in group singing and symbolically in our journey as a group. The concert program can be viewed as a movement through the simple ingredients that bring clay to life. Earth, water, and air are essential elements that form and transform clay, just as they are fundamental to our human existence. The fragments of a clay object formed with these three elements can undergo a process of rebirth and reformation when moistened with water again. Personally, as someone from the village countryside, earth, water, and air symbolise my carefree childhood, simplicity, transformation, perspective, and rebirth.
–What will the concert programme include?
Our concert is divided into three movements-parts, each inspired by one component of clay. Earth includes songs that relate lyrically or thematically to the land, “the village,” raw emotions, work, and self-sacrifice. Water consists of songs about transformation, journey, catharsis, and flow. The final part, Air, includes songs about ethereal beings, mythical creatures, spirituality, and rebirth. The songs have been arranged and harmonized mainly by me during our rehearsals, with contributions from members, some by our beloved collaborator Ermis Michael, while others are original compositions by Giorgos Kalogirou, an artist we particularly admire and love. With a set specially curated by Panagiota Konstanti, who dedicates her time with passion and love, contributing to the visual aesthetics of our concert.
–What material do you feel the women of the choir are made of?
The process of forming clay can be paralleled with Amalgamation’s women’s collective journey in singing – individual voices shape one another, transforming each person’s raw potential into something unified, deep, and beautiful through cooperation, creativity, and love. In a group, what matters isn’t so much what each individual is made of, but what material is created when we combine all voices and all characters. Each one is so unique. Each has her reasons for being here. When it no longer serves her, she can move on. We maintain so many friendships with past members. The women of the choir are “the choir” only when they are “present” and open to this interaction, this molding, this sculpting.
–Going back in time, what sparked your desire to create a choir featuring women’s voices?
The female voice is something I particularly love—it has something both earthly and magical at the same time. It’s a voice I understand, something familiar that I can work with better than the male voice.
–What dreams did you start with ten years ago?
The idea for regular practice came from the women who participated in the voice workshops at “Fengaros Music Village.” They convinced me to start weekly meetings. And since then, it became established. Generally, I don’t dream. I live intensely in the moment and build a strong foundation stone by stone. The rest comes naturally. We give value to our work by being serious and trying our best—whatever that might be. Trends change, but I want us to do what we do with sincerity and primarily for ourselves.
-Ten years later, which moments stand out from Amalgamation Choir’s journey?
I’d say the most distinctive experience was when I left my then-newborn son to go with a small delegation to our first festival in Brest, France. I felt an enormous responsibility weighing on my shoulders from all sides. I forgot to take the breast pump and had to rush to first aid as soon as I arrived. Quite an adventure. The entire experience was very intense and required a lot of inner strength to accomplish our goal. On the last night, we went with the girls to Brest to eat. We ate, drank wine, laughed, sang, and when we were about to leave, we went outside and it was still daylight. It seemed very strange to me. It was almost 23:00!
Generally, I’d say the moments that stand out usually happen during the process. Recently, we sang with Alkinoos Ioannidis at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre. While waiting behind the huge curtain for our turn, I watched the girls silently dancing and singing in the dark to the songs they listened to as teenagers. When we finished, we hugged and cried together.
–One of the choir’s most notable moments was the performance at Westminster Abbey. How did you experience that yourself?
The whole journey had something surreal about it. From the first email signed by the Royal Commonwealth Society that I initially thought was spam and didn’t answer, then the frenzied correspondence with logistics that Myrto (thankfully) handled, followed by countless messages with Stelios from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the late-night running up and down hotel corridors wearing tulles to check the clothes, waking up at dawn to sing at the House of Representatives first, our wandering through the underground tunnels of Big Ben, the fanouropita that Avgi vowed to Saint Fanourios to find the borrowed jewelry from the Crafts Center (we found it), the conversation with King Charles at the palace about “Exile of Eros” by Giorgos Kalogirou.
The phone that Christina and Argyro smuggled (let’s say accidentally) into the royal reception to take photos—many moments. From Armenochori, where I come from, to Westminster Abbey is a long road. Most vividly, I remember my disappointment when I returned backstage and saw the live broadcast with the TV sound from the mobile phone. It was as if I’d been woken from a dream, bringing me back to earth abruptly. The sound inside the Abbey was magical, imposing, ethereal, like a sea of honey. Through the TV microphone to my phone’s speaker, not even 5% of that moment’s magic came through. The magic of our “Xenitia,” our Kykkos mountains. Chara advised me to keep the memory I wanted. And so I did. I kept the real moment in my memory, and that’s what I remember. The women’s eyes fixed on mine and that magical moment we shared in such a historic space.
The choir now numbers 30 members. How easy or difficult is it to coordinate all these women to achieve a unified result? Not easy at all, which is why I ask for help. I’ve learned which things I resist. For example, I almost never answer my phone. Each woman has at least one magical quality, as we call them. One brings a pie, another brings coffees, another writes scores on the spot, another corrects and researches lyrics, but the most important thing is continuous coordination. Many ideas without coordination will collapse. Leda, Mikaella, and Margarita (in the past), thank you.
–Besides the shared love for music, what other things do you feel unite you with the women of the choir?
The women who belong to this group—especially the older members—are now friends and sisters. We look into each other’s eyes and we know. A safe and familiar environment has been created, I want to believe, in this group. A small community, a women’s family.
–Is group singing also a form of therapy?
It certainly is, without being explicitly so. Beyond the oxygenation that occurs due to breathing, beyond the release, the feeling that you’re doing something substantial by achieving small goals and learning something, there’s also the friendship that develops, the support network. There are many studies about the positive effects of group singing.
–Through Amalgamation Choir, you literally give women a voice. Metaphorically, what does it mean to you to give someone the platform to express their voice through music?
Each person in this group has, like all of us, their life challenges. When they enter rehearsal, we enter another reality, we forget ourselves for a while. There’s room for all “voices” in Amalgamation. Each one has their own pace of learning and doing things. There are no auditions. Your voice can reveal many things about yourself. Your voice’s sound reflects a mixture of your habits, character, traumas, fears, and health. I believe that by cultivating your voice, you can have a corresponding positive influence or change in the above.
–With the choir, you’ve traveled to several international destinations. How do these travels influence your artistic work and the way you see the world?
With each invitation abroad, I gain confidence that we must continue—often the local sound is also unique. Gradually, I’d like us to sing more in Cypriot, our own songs, those of our collaborators.
–What does experimenting with diverse musical genres offer you as an artist? How do you feel they affect your musical identity?
I certainly enjoy exploring and discovering new artists, sounds, and ways of expression. It takes time to absorb new influences, and in the end, I only use what I feel serves me.
–Were your own musical influences also an amalgam of sounds and melodies?
I never know how to answer this question. It’s difficult to see my musical reflection in the mirror. Certainly, the exposure to traditional, rebetiko, art, and folk music from my father, the sounds from Northern Greece (Edessa) from my mother, my grandfather’s dances, the Macedonian my grandmother speaks, and later my studies in modern singing made me receptive to many types of music.
When and how did you personally find your way to music? My love for music emerged very early because of my father. I grew up hearing a very warm voice and sweet bouzouki playing. I have great respect for the work of taverna musicians and venue musicians in general. The conditions were and are difficult. I experienced them as a child.
–Today, do you have any unfulfilled aspirations as an artist? Things you want to do but haven’t had the opportunity for yet?
I set small goals and move forward. That way, I don’t call them dreams—which are often something unattainable. I don’t have unfulfilled aspirations. I simply want to continue sharing and learning.
Info: Amalgamation Choir’s concert titled “Clay” will take place on December 13th at 20:00 at the Markideio Theatre in Paphos. Tickets available at Soldoutticketbox.com
Source: Tanya Neocleous – Philenews
