Maria Berglund has almost 20 years of experience as a choir conductor and consultant. She’s worked with choirs containing all voice combinations, repertoirs and ages, both as their musical leader and during weekend courses all around Norway.
Her initial voice technique “crash course” for choir members took place in 2012, and has developed into a system of freestanding elements from which she tailors every course for each specific choir. In short, the aim is to improve the choir performance as a whole, by training the individual singers and voice groups. Berglund’s various vocal tools give her the ability to suggest solutions for almost any challenge – through exercises, different practise techniques, and the singers’ deepening understanding of their instruments.
Experience tell us that one can expect great changes from the first session to the last – but to achieve lasting change, follow-up sessions is recommended. Many of the choirs Berglund has visited, has chosen to order a contiunation course to further implement exercises to their routine. Quite a few choir singers even choose to purchase private lessons following a technique course, and their conductors can attest to the effect it has for the choir…!
In the spring of 2016, Berglund joined the Norwegian Choir Association’s ranks of acclaimed vocal coaches, and all the near thousand choirs enrolled in the Association will be recommended a seminar in vocal technique. Under the title “Your voice as your instrument”, Berglund can design courses that cater to any choir’s needs:
vocal function and anatomy
body, alignment and support (Timani)
solving common and specific problems in different vocal groups
harmony, listening and individual adjustment to the sound
different vocal methods for different musical genres
enhancing the overall technique in front of a performance.
