Choral Techniques for Pop A Cappella
Session Abstract: This session highlights and reinforces the basic techniques choral educators need to consider when teaching vocal jazz and close harmony repertoire for non-amplified performance whilst maintaining good vocal health. From the harmonic theory needed to make a chord truly ring, to discovering a spectrum of colours to employ within your ensemble’s sound, former King’s Singers baritone Chris Gabbitas will approach several of the group’s best-loved arrangements and pass on practical skills for use with your own singers no matter their prior experience. This is a genre for all singers to enjoy!
Christopher Gabbitas
University of Redlands
Grammy Award-winning musician and producer Chris Gabbitas has since 2019 led the innovative MM in Vocal Chamber Music at the University of Redlands. In the same year he was appointed Artistic Director of leading professional ensemble Phoenix Chorale, following 15 years performing with The King’s Singers where he developed a deep love for close harmony performance across 2,000 performances and 50 recordings. Chris is also a qualified lawyer, working in the creative commercial field, and aims to use his unique skill-set to advocate for a more holistic musical education.
