We have been moved and heartened by the wave of supportive emails we've received since the broadcast of Amabile's feature on Last Choir Standing. Thank you to everyone for taking time to write and for giving permission to share some of your comments. We haven't published your names but if you want us to add your name please do contact us and we will do that.
I cannot believe that your choir was so abruptly dismissed last night by all three judges. The choir looked and sounded stunning. It's apparent that they are not looking for high standards in presentation, discipline and first class singing.
Sorry about last night - you were honestly one of the best choirs on the programme. Whatever the judges said - stay as you are - stick to singing!
I thought the way the judges spoke to you was appalling. It was great to see such a disciplined group of young people so enjoying what they were doing and making such a polished sound.
The performance I saw from your choir last night on the show was brilliant. Unfortunately, it would seem that the purpose of the show is not to find choirs that are making quality music but to find choirs that are doing something perceived to be hip and trendy
Dear Charlotte Jackson! Having seen the first of the BBC "Last Choir Standing" programme, I felt compelled to write to you. When I saw and heard your excellent choir, I assumed their progress in this competition would be inevitable. I was astounded and actually quite angry, not only that they did not progress, but at the comments uttered by the so-called judges. Laying aside the rude comments about the choir's attire, they obviously thought that performing with passion meant visual gimmicks and never mind about even basic musical values like good ensemble, tuning etc. Whatever the style, a choir should be a musical entity, not a group of undisciplined albeit enthusiastic individuals. I think your exclusion from the competition was more to do with a misguided perception of "elitism" in a cultural climate where image and celebrity are valued more than real talent nurtured by discipline and hard work.
Dear Charlotte
My enjoyment of the BBC programme 'Last Choir Standing', shown this weekend, was marred by the response of the panel to Amabile School Choir's performance. I have not seen or heard the choir before but was moved by its performance. It is very difficult these days to encourage young people to pursue excellence in any field and I applaud the work of those, like yourselves, who manage to inspire the young and enable the highest of artistic standards to be achieved. The girls working with you will continue to develop artistically but they will also acquire a range of qualities that will make an enormous difference to their future lives, what ever road they might take. The value of this cannot be underestimated.
They have learnt that they can climb unreachable heights and achieve seemingly unobtainable goals, they will have developed artistic and other values that they will subsequently take forward into the wider world. They, and society will be all the better for it. But I am sure you know these things.
I was saddened by the comments and hope that it does not affect your work. Looking at the faces, while Ms Digby was attacking their dress, was distressing and I hope that it does not cause their motivation to 'wobble'. There was not consistency in the panel's decisions and while I appreciate the desire to include the experimental, this should not be achieved by excluding quality.
Please congratulate the girls for me, keep up the good work.
Dear Madam
I cannot believe that your choir was so abruptly dismissed last night by all three judges. The choir looked and sounded stunning. It's apparent that they are not looking for high standards in presentation, discipline and first class singing. Good for you for saying that you are not lowering your standards.
Hi,
Sorry about last night - you were honestly one of
the best choirs on the programme. Whatever the judges said - stay as you
are - stick to singing! (Imagine the wonderful Cathedral choirs of Britain
having to sway and clap in time to Choral Evensong! - and their robes are
not exactly 20th Century!) I liked the dresses - elegant and in keeping
with the dignity of the music.
Well done!
Dear Charlotte,
So sorry to see you experience the ritual humiliation that has to happen on such a programme as this. I am a musician and choir trainer with decades of years of experience, and I thought Amabile was wonderful. Don't change a thing. The balance was excellent, tone was perfect, expression was great. My daughter, aged 18, had recently attended her first end-of-year Ball at school, and wore a dress not unlike those worn by the choir!
Do keep up the good work. You have a really great choir under your baton. Stay as you are - even with the same dresses! Amo Amabile.
Hello Charlotte,
I really felt the need to contact you after
watching that SHAM of a programme. I was absolutely incensed by it as I had
thought, when I saw it advertised, that it might actually do some good in
promoting choral singing. How wrong could I be? I could not believe the comments
made by a woman who is supposed to be improving standards of singing in England.
( Thank God I live in Wales!!)
Fact is that you were far too good to be on that
programme last night. I would assume it was made some time ago and that you are
all well over it by now. Your choir is lucky to have you---you obviously
inspire them! I would love to have heard more.
Dear Charlotte and Amabile choir members, the performance I saw from your choir last night on the show was brilliant. Unfortunately, it would seem that the purpose of the show is not to find choirs that are making quality music but to find choirs that are doing something perceived to be hip and trendy. I would hope that you got something more of a "fairer" critique from the judges that was edited out than what we actually saw. Suzi Digby's "that was very nice" was almost patronising and then it descended into farcical comments about how the choir was attired! Certainly what came across was that you were ruled out due to how you dressed rather than due to your performance. I do see, however, from mooching around on the net this morning, that you won a Radio 3 competition in 2006 and it appears to be a competition much more about musicality than dress sense. Last Choir Standing is obviously another programme in the TV schedule trying to satisfy the lowest common denominator. Well, you're better than that, and the evidence was there for all to hear! But, no doubt, the programme editors were delighted with the footage of tearful choir members, hopes dashed by the judges ill-considered rejection of the choir. Emotion and passion in choral singing does not have to be displayed by the vocal histrionics being sought by the BBC in this competition. The only thing you did wrong was choosing the wrong competition to enter. Rise above it! Congratulations - you were great!!!
Charlotte ,
Congratulations on Amabile's excellent performance on 'Last Choir Standing'. I had only watched the programme in the hope of
seeing a friend and colleague. I was disappointed to see that it is just another X Factor, with celebrity judges becoming emotional and promoting show-biz groups rather than well trained choirs performing good music to a high standard of technique and musicianship. It shows the mentality of the programme in that you were criticized for your dresses! Amabile were certainly deserving of a place in the next round of any serious choral competition. I wish you every success in your other endeavours.
Charlotte,
Forgive me for e-mailing you, but I just had to write and
say that I thought that the BBC's treatment of the Amabile Girls'
Choir on tonight's programme was quite awful. In the end, I was forced to
switch the programme off as it was making me so angry! Obviously, this was an
entertainment show, and in no way seemed representative of choral singing in
this country. I thought that the fact that the judges chatted all the way
through your performance was indicative of the kind of show that was. I was so
glad that you said afterwards that you wouldn't be changing anything. In
view of your outfits, I think they are lovely. Having worked with young people
in choirs for some 10 years, I know that from experience, young people do want
to look smart, and they do want to have that coherent look to their
performance. I found it hard to understand what Susan Digby in particular had
against this. I am all for raising the profile of choral singing in this
country, but this programme is certainly not the way to do it. At least when we
had the BBC's Choir of the Year, it was about quality music rather than what
amounted to in this programme, little more than cheap and dumbed-down
entertainment.
I wish you well in your future work which, as I am sure you
are aware, is so valuable to so many, and especially those young people who
have been part of Amabile over the years.
Hi,
Watching LCS with half an eye, yours on there was the first that seemed
anything like a choir - and I don't think the judges were right with their
'no's. I don't think what the choir looked like should be judged
and in any case, didn't think the appearance was 'wrong' at all!
Dear Charlotte
I just watched in agony the first instalment of Last Choir Standing and want to say how shocked & appalled I was at Susan Digby's criticism of the girls' formal dresses. I am indeed sorry that this kind of thinking prevented your choir from getting any further, but I hope the girls understand that the true worth of their well-prepared music, their disciplined approach to practicing harmony and blending sound can not be summed up in superficial remarks and thoughtless criticisms of music administrators/TV personalities. Ultimately, I think you are fortunate for not wasting any more of your time! Keep up the good work, as we need more choirs like yours to represent the best of great music and musical traditions – if it all becomes gospel and pop, well, how Great is that?
Dear Ms Jackson
Despite the dismal judging, I should like to say
how much my family enjoyed the choir's performance on tonight's programme.
Sadly this seems the kind of television show which
is more keen on dramatics than musical direction. Their loss!
I hope you all continue to maintain the high
standard you have set for yourselves.
Hello, Just to let you know that I thought 'Amabile' were by far the best choir last week on 'Last choir standing'. I felt that they were very cruel in what they said and that the BBC's editing has much to answer for!!
Well done for standing your ground!
Hello
I hope this email isn't too forward, but I feel I need
to express an opinion that was brought on by Saturday evening's edition
of Last Choir Standing.
I am a music teacher myself and although I trained as a
pianist, I have had wide experience in working with singers, including
directing two choirs. I would like to say that I thought the performance given
by Amabile Girls' Choir was outstanding and to be sent away for the
reasons given was shocking.
May I wish you every success in the future, and well done
for sticking to your guns and stating that you won't change the choir!
Dear Charlotte Jackson
As a professional choral singer I would like to congratulate your choir for their excellent singing on Saturday night's Last Choir Standing. The girls looked and sounded absolutely beautiful. I was totally appalled by the way the judges treated you and your girls. As a choir competition the show seemed to be very one-sided and biased towards choirs who sang pop songs or gospel music.
Well done for trying out something more traditional. I thought the girls sang with emotion and feeling and their tuning and sense of ensemble was excellent. The dresses looked fantastic without removing the attention from the important thing, that is, the singing. The majority of the choirs that did get through had serious tuning issues and often little or no awareness of the techniques of singing.
Please do not change a thing. I was very disappointed by the programme and switched off the minute Amabile got rejected. I will not be watching next week. The Amabile girls choir has excellent talent and I really hope this has not discouraged your girls from singing. They are all stars!
Just a message from a total stranger with a long time interest in choral singing- I thought that the comments from the judges of last Choir Standing were wildly innacurate and raised serious questions as to what on earth they are looking for. Is this series going to turn out to be a thinly disguised version of the karaoke style one on the other channel?
Keep doing what you obviously do so well!
I would just like to say how much I enjoyed the Choir's preformance recently on the BBC's "Last choir standing". It was clear from the editing of the programme that as with all talent shows the producers are looking to sell a story, something for the public to buy into emotionally rather than focusing on real talent. I actually found it very annoying that they kept interrupting the performances with their video clips. I would have liked to have heard the choirs sing all of their chosen pieces.
Dear Amabile Girls,
I watched your performance
on "Last Choir Standing" and thought you looked and sounded
stunning. You looked like jewels and sounded as bright and
clear.
I send you all my very best wishes for your continued excellence. Your tears after your lovely
performance were a real heartache for me and marred my enjoyment of the
programme, but as one commentator said "What doesn't kill you strengthens you"...
