Bree Switzer
I’ve always loved to sing
I remember thinking at some point, if I could sing every day, I would be happy. This led me to study voice and composition at the Selkirk Music program in Nelson BC from 1999-2002 and then to teach voice lessons as a side income while I studied Waldorf/Steiner teacher training in England from 2002-2004. Regardless of what I was doing in my life I always sang in a choir. During my teacher training I thought I was headed toward being a high school English teacher. In my second year of teacher training I took conducting lessons with my choir director, Gregers Brinch. That was a good decision! Back then I never would have dreamed that directing choirs would be later become my primary job.
Can choirs change the world?
I may not be the most objective, but I believe that if every workplace started the day by singing together, they would be more harmonious, more accepting and more joyful. If children started every morning by singing together, every person would grow up with a connection to music, to their own voice, and with a certain confidence in themselves that only singing can give. So when people ask me who my choirs are for, my truest reply is this: for anyone!
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
“But I can’t sing…”
This is a statement I hear often. I truly believe everyone can sing. Many people are out of practice, so they haven’t developed the control of their own voice that is required to sing in tune. But this can be learned. Certainly it is easier to learn when you are young, just as learning to use your voice to speak is easier to learn when you’re young! But with dedication and practice, it can be learned later in life, too.
More about me
I was lucky to grow up in a family where music was present. My parents were not musicians, but neither did they believe that music was closed to them. My mom sang with us as kids, and I was fortunate to attend a Waldorf (Steiner) school where we sang every single day. When I was in grade four I remember singing a song with my class that I loved. I put my whole heart into it. My teacher stopped in front of my desk and when the song was finished he said, Bree, you have a beautiful voice. That moment was deeply important for me, because it set me on a course of believing I could sing. Many people have told me they experienced the opposite. A choir director or music teacher who politely asked them not to sing, or to stand in the back. From that moment on they stopped singing, in some cases forever, and so did the development of their singing voice.
When I switched to a public school in grade 10, my parents suggested I audition for the jazz choir. I was shocked! Audition? I wasn’t a singer! But my parents calmly encouraged me, saying they thought I would probably get in. I had no idea what it meant to audition for a choir. But I was intrigued by my parents’ insistence. My dad said simply, “We think you’ll enjoy it.”
And they were right. At the audition the choir director asked me to sing Happy Birthday, and when I finished he said, “Welcome to the choir!” Over the next three years I left for school at 7:30 AM for choir rehearsal three days a week, and those were my favourite days. I left the rehearsal room with friends, talking, laughing, and singing.
At home in Nelson BC with my sisters and their kids.