I Can’t Believe I Sing With This Group

Nada Marriott, Board Chairperson

When did you first join The Choral Project, and how did you find us?

Nada: My first season with The Choral Project was 2017–18. I had moved to San José and was looking for a choir to join. I’ve always been involved in choirs. I have a degree in music education, and I’ve spent much of my life either directing or singing.

I kept searching online, and The Choral Project kept coming up. I would look at the website, look elsewhere, and then come back again. Finally, I decided to dig deeper, and I found a video of Menharmonics, TCP’s former men’s ensemble, singing “O Shenandoah.” They were so good that I thought, if the men’s section is this good, this choir must be really good.

I practiced like crazy for the audition, both the piece I wanted to sing and the music I had been given, and then I went and auditioned.

What stands out to you when you think back to that audition?

Nada: A couple of things. First of all, Daniel! Auditions can be frightening because you’re putting yourself out there and performing with your whole self. But Daniel put me at ease.

Then I was given the sight-reading piece. I looked at the top and thought, okay. Then I kept looking down the page and thought, “Oh, shit.” Or maybe I said, “Oh, crap.” I don’t remember which. It starts off very easy, and then it goes to hell after that.

Daniel just said, “Keep going. Don’t stop.” I made it through, and I guess I made it!

You’ve talked about Daniel’s impact on you, but has someone else at TCP had a particular impact on your experience?

Nada: What I found with The Choral Project was family and community. When I joined, Daniel paired me with a mentor, as he does with every new singer. My mentor was one of our sopranos, and I consider her to be one of my best friends to this day.

We still sing together, and we walk together weekly. It has been such a gift to sing with her and also have this close friendship because of a connection that began when I chose to audition for The Choral Project.

What has kept you with The Choral Project?

Nada: Daniel and his artistic leadership, and the community I have found among singers, board, and staff.

Looking back at your first season with The Choral Project and where you are now, what does The Choral Project mean to you today that may be different from when you first joined?

Nada: Before, I was in awe that I sang with this group, and now I am in awe that I sing with this group.

My first season, I had to have surgery before the last concert. I was sure I would be able to sing, but my significant other told me I would not be able to, and he was right. So I attended the concert as an audience member instead.

It was the first time I had ever heard The Choral Project live from the audience rather than from the risers. I sat with my daughter-in-law, and throughout the concert I kept telling her between numbers, “I can’t believe I sing with this group. They’re so good. They are fantastic. I sing with this group!”

It was so exhilarating to realize that I belonged to a group with such high standards. To this day, I am still amazed that I am here.

This is your last season as our board chairperson and as a member of the board. What, if anything, changed for you when you joined the board?

Nada: What changed was getting to know more about the structure of the organization, how it functions, and working with different board members. I became excited about it and wanted others to join the board as well because it is such a worthy organization to be part of.

But not that much changed in terms of my goals. I already wanted the organization to continue to be strong, to evolve, and to get better and better. We all grow as we age, learn, and progress, and I think the same is true for an organization.

By encouraging others to join the board, we have created a really strong board and a great organization.

Looking back at your time with The Choral Project, is there a performance that has stayed with you?

Nada: There have been many performances when I teared up, and performances that jolted me out of myself. There have even been times when I thought we weren’t quite ready, and then we blew it out of the water.

There have also been moments when I’ve looked at Daniel while he’s directing and seen him so engrossed in the music that he is fighting back tears. That makes us perform even better. I can’t point to only one concert because it has happened more than once.

Those are the kinds of moments that stay with me.

Daniel’s arrangement of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” being particularly important to you. Why?

Nada: It was so moving, especially when we performed it at GALA and had such a warm audience, as well as when we first performed it at the Mission.

It brings what is happening today to the forefront. It touches you because it is happening right now. The piece reminded me how many people built us up to this point and how important it is that we continue their legacy.

That is one of the gems Daniel brings to The Choral Project. He brings what is happening today into the music and reminds us of it.

“America the Beautiful” also touched me every time we performed it. And during Considering Matthew Shepard, when Summer sang the mother’s solo, I had to separate myself from the emotion enough to keep singing. Otherwise, I would have been bawling.

There was also last season’s A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE, which Daniel wrote. When we performed the section about school shootings with the children’s choir and stomped on the risers to represent the gunshots, it was incredibly effective. That is Daniel’s vision.

What is it about Daniel that inspires you as a musician?

Nada: His knowledge of music, technique, and theory. His knowledge of its history and how to pronounce the languages we sing. His interpretation of the music and the way he explains how he wants us to perform it.

He works with us on forming vowels and pronunciation so that we sound as one, and he mixes us so that nobody sticks out. It is fantastic.

He has also made me a better singer. I learned that I had been taught to breathe incorrectly many years ago, and Daniel taught me a different technique that made much more sense. The old way still wants to creep in sometimes, but my voice has gotten much better from listening to him and following his guidance.

As long as I am able to contribute to the choir, I will stay.

What has The Choral Project taught you about yourself?

Nada: That I can still memorize music at my age!

And I can do it without grumbling anymore.

If you had to choose one word to describe The Choral Project, what would it be?

Nada: Inspirational.

When you come to a concert, you are inspired. When we perform and rehearse, we are inspired by each other because we all strive to do our best. We are inspired by Daniel, who gives us the tools to be our best.

We continue to inspire the people who come to our concerts, and we continue to inspire each other as we sing together.

Is there a tradition or part of The Choral Project’s culture that you would never want us to lose?

Nada: I would like the retreats to continue, especially the time on Saturday when we all sit in a circle, introduce ourselves, and talk about who we are. You learn so much about everybody. It takes a while to get through about 45 people, but I hope we never stop doing that.

I also love the kickoff party at the beginning of the season. Everybody brings food, talks, and spends time together. At the last one, it was wonderful to see the younger and newer singers sitting together talking and not wanting to leave.

People welcome each other and bring new people in. There are no divas in our choir. We work together, and new singers notice how friendly everybody is because that’s who we are. I want that to continue.

We also have Secret Singer, which I suggested when I became board chair. It’s based on Secret Santa, and most of the singers participate. We have a social committee that organizes activities outside rehearsals, and we sing “Happy Birthday” to people on their birthdays. Standing in front of the choir and having that sound coming directly at you is gorgeous.

The Choral Project is celebrating 30 years of music-making. What do you hope The Choral Project is still doing 30 years from now?

Nada: I hope TCP continues to grow and maybe even becomes a professional group.

I would also love to see TCP create a children’s choir or youth choir that could eventually feed into the adult choir and serve the larger community. I hope we can reach communities with fewer resources through performances or perhaps create a choir people can join at any time.

That would require full-time artistic leadership, grants, and a lot of funding, but down the line, I hope The Choral Project can move in that direction.

In a Q&A when you joined TCP in 2017, you told us that you were an artist who painted and sculpted three-dimensional flowers from paper. What is something new that people might not know about you?

Nada: I love to crochet, and now I’ve been making stuffed animals. People see them and say, “I want one! Make me one!” I’ve made bunnies, unicorns, teddy bears, and cats.

It started when I showed my granddaughter a pattern I was thinking of making. She said, “Make me one!” I told her she had too many stuffies, and she said, “One can never have too many stuffies, Nana.” The rest is history.

I also make hats and scarves for homeless shelters. I belong to a group that does that, so the things I make are delivered to different shelters.

What would you say to someone who has never heard The Choral Project and is considering coming to a concert?

Nada: I’ve invited many people who had never heard us before. One person came up to me after a concert with tears in her eyes and said, “I’ve never been to a concert before, but you brought me to tears. This is amazing. I am coming back.”

That night she made a donation, and she has been back for every concert since.

When I invite people, I tell them they are going to be inspired. The Choral Project isn’t simply singing one song and then another. There is a theme that runs through the concert and a message within each piece.

I’ve even told people that if they don’t like the concert, I’ll personally give them their money back for the tickets.

I’ve never had to pay anybody back.