In the concrete jungle of Taipei, where smog lingers forever, impatient motorists honk non-stop and helmets hopefully keep your head from being crushed under a bus, group singing is most often done after work hours in small dark rooms where people belt out off-key tunes.
But for the ladies of the International Community Choir (ICC), singing is not only therapeutic, it is also a way to bring a slice of home to this bustling city.
PHOTO COURTESY OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CHOIR
The choir, which meets every Thursday at 12pm at the American Club, is a cornucopia of diversity with women from countries and regions such as Taiwan, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the US, the UK, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands and the Caribbean.
“Being in the choir makes me feel I have another home in Taipei. For me, it makes Taipei friendlier because it gives me a chance to establish connections that I wouldn’t have otherwise,” said Christi Lehman-Starr, a native Californian who has been singing with the ICC for two years.
“I found some of my best friends in the choir,” she said, exchanging mischievous looks with Siew Kang, a member of the choir who was also a singer in a “girl band” with her.
“The choir is a great place for women to get together, especially for the newcomers,” Kang said.
Evie Conkling, a resident of Taiwan for almost 11 years, agreed with her singing buddies that ICC injects a touch of home despite being thousands of kilometers away from her roots in the US.
“The choir ... well, is fun,” she said.
Conkling, a missionary and a former music teacher, said she started attending the choir because she wanted to spend more time with her daughter, and the choir was the perfect venue.
Medical studies have shown that singing has a positive correlation with reducing heart disease and lowering hypertension, said Patricia Preston-Roberts, a board-certified music therapist in New York City.
A three-year study of the health benefits of singing for people 55 or older conducted at Levine School of Music in Washington indicated that seniors who are involved in choral music have fewer eyesight problems, lower risk of depression, and less need for medication.
The ladies can be spotted at least twice a year at their spring and Christmas concerts, wearing sassy all-black outfits donned with colored scarves.
Kang said the concerts are benefit events to raise money for St Anne’s Home, a local charity organization.
The choir has also been known to mingle with other choirs, including the New Dynasty Chorus as part of the 2005 world premier of Peter Ritzen’s symphony Heavenly Peace at the National Concert Hall in Taipei.
With a passion for singing and a will to commit to the rehearsal schedule, the ladies said, anyone is welcome to join the choir.
“The key to singing is repetition and listening. It sounds simple but [it’s] true. Its amazing how some people who don’t know how to read music can still sound amazing because they are using their ears,” said choir director Joan Pipkin, a Julliard-trained musician who is now a conductor with the Taipei American School Upper School orchestra.
Pipkin said that despite a popular myth, most people who claim they cannot carry a tune are not tone-deaf, but rather just lack practice in using their ears.
Tone-deaf people, she said, cannot distinguish between different intervals, so music often sounds like noise to them.
For information, send inquiries to internationalchoir@gmail.com.
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