King's Chapel choir rehearses for the "For All The Saints" concert. Photo credit: Paula Bugden

King's Chapel Choir attracts big audience

The choir stirred public interest with its latest concert, putting them on the market and bringing in a younger demographic at the same time.

People of all ages showed up for the King’s Chapel Choir concert called ‘For All the Saints’ on Saturday night, Nov. 7.Paul Halley, the music director of the choir, said he expected to see roughly 300 people in the audience at the Cathedral Church of All Saints, but it looked more like 500.

Halley says he enjoys seeing younger people in the audience, as many tend to be older.But the demographic mainly depends on publicity, he says.He compares choir music to other genres.

“Whether it’s a rock and roll band or a pop band or someone in commercial music making, they’re all about sales,” says Halley.“A lot of these artists have had to struggle hard . . . and finally when they get some name recognition, they never let go of that.”

He says that while people in classical and choir music are talented and often have a background in professional training, there’s not as much interest in publicity.As for the growing interest in King’s Chapel Choir, he says many people have learned about the concerts through the choir singers themselves.

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Choir members practice singing with their music director Paul Halley

As for the effort he’s put into other King’s choir concert productions, Halley says he took it upon himself to hire people to handle the publicity, as well as getting a narrator involved.This year, however, he says the university’s bookstore and advancement office pitched in to help with ticket sales.

While the concert held on Nov. 7 was a success, Halley notes the many challenges dealt with beforehand.

He said the concert was harder to market and it took longer to set the date.Not only did he have to figure out who would perform solo work, but Halley says he wasn’t sure how many people would attend, as the Halifax Camerata Singers also put off a concert the same night.

As a Grammy award-winning music director who’s worked in the U.S. and England, Halley’s learned the importance of marketing choir music.

“I just learned very, very quickly that if you don’t get that together you won’t survive it,” he says.

Saturday night’s concert was the first of three events Halley’s lined-up for the school year. King’s choir is set to perform its second holiday concert, A King’s Christmas, this December, as well as the St. John Passion concert next March, says Halley.

Emma Whitney, a 21-year-old former member of King’s Chapel Choir, attended the concert Saturday night.With several friends still in the choir, Whitney says she’s glad to support them and enjoys seeing their performance.

“In Halifax there’s a real culture of support where young people involved in choral music are really good at getting their friends and colleagues out to hear their group sing,” says Kevin, Parks, music director at St. Andrew’s Church in Halifax.

In the meantime, audience member, 38-year-old Rachel White, says not enough young people are taking part in choir music.She’s been with the Bedford Sisters choir and moved from Chester, England to Nova Scotia in September.

After learning about the King’s Chapel Choir concert in a local newspaper, White says she wanted to see how similar King’s choir is to its Cambridge model.

“It’s an acquired taste,” White says, referring to choir music.“And some young people are more interested in becoming the next Madonna as opposed to this kind of singing.”

But for Halley, publicity is more than just ticket sales.

“For me it’s about education and letting people know who you are, what it is you’re doing, what you want to do, what your dreams are and just give them a chance to have access to this music,” says Halley.“It’s about setting things up in such a way that if an 18-year-old or 24-year-old will give two hours of his or her time, I think I can make it worthwhile.”

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