Interview with female choir ProVoc

From appearances on X Factor and at the Isle of Wight Festival to Sky 1's recent show Sing: Ultimate A Cappella, ProVoc is a unique, all female vocal ensemble with their star very much in the ascendance.  

With eight of the group's nine members graduates of ICMP's BMus Vocal Performance course, their success can be traced back to classes on singing together as well as tips on refining their group dynamics and sound.

With a busy calendar of gigs lined up over the festive period starting with a performance at The Hippodrome Casino tomorrow night (21st November), we caught up with Jessica from the group to learn more...

Could you introduce the various members of ProVoc? 

ProVoc is an all female a cappella ensemble made up of Katherine Burr, Orama Saukila, Laura Granderath, Stefania Morosini, Martine Fisch, Milagros Rshaid, Jessica Moore, Jade Rowswell and Raya Sambidge. 

How did you get together? What was the inspiration behind the ensemble?

ProVoc was formed by co-founding members Katherine, Orama, Laura and Stefania. When we were about to graduate and we were panicking that we would never see each other again! We have a mutual love of singing, having all studied on ICMP's BMus Vocal Performance course (excluding Martine).

How did you end up on Sky 1's Sing: Ultimate A Cappella  show? And what did you learn from the experience? 

A video of us performing 'Wayfaring Stranger' was found by the executive producer of the show who then found and got in contact with us! It was just from luck of being seen online." 

We learnt a lot from the appearance, particularly the importance of vowel sounds and shapes to help with blend! We're a group with members from all over the globe, and because of this our accents can sometimes impact the overall sound of a chord, so blend was a big thing we learnt from our appearance on the show. It's so much fun to sing together but we really had to work hard. 

Where does the group look for inspiration? 

Each other. And 'Pitch Perfect'. Katherine does all of our arrangements, and we love the dissonance and resolution, the rise and fall of chords as they clash and then blend. We think it makes for more interesting listening, and it showcases something unique. So we definitely take inspiration from that sound. 

The majority of you met at ICMP - what did you learn from your experiences at the music college? 

The arranging and ensemble skills modules were amazingly helpful, as they gave more experience with scoring and writing parts.

Being around amazing singers and musicians all the time rubs off on you a bit too! Sight reading allowed us to hone our skills so that when we're putting a song together, it usually falls into place relatively quickly even if we haven't looked at it before. Our time there has developed us as musicians."

What have you got lined up for the future?

We have a gig at The Hippodrome Casino on 21st November with some of the acts we appeared with on Sing, so that is going to be a great night of a cappella magic. From 23rd November we'll be performing at Clapham Common's Winterville, and also working with The Grand in Clapham, singing for their movie nights. Online, we'll also be releasing our round two song from Sing, which was Coldplay's 'Clocks' and a favourite arrangement of ours, 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun', on YouTube! 

Are there any do's and don'ts for aspiring vocalists? 

Don't brag, don't be a diva and don't show if you mess up (keep up that smile). Don't be negative about trying new things. Don't be lazy!" 

Have you any advice for new vocalists on how they can sustain a career in the music industry?

Being able to do a little bit of everything will help, as will learning to work with different people. It's not enough anymore to just be a singer. Be a performer as well as a singer. Arrange your work, and then work out how to market it. Show your face and voice on social media. Upload videos to show your skill and to remind people you exist so they can contact you for gigs. Be persistent in finding gigs and always think a step ahead.

Grab tickets for the group's forthcoming gig at the Hippodrome and watch this clip of them performing on the Sky 1 show. You can also find out more about the group via their Facebook page. 

Learn to sing in London

If you're an aspiring vocalist and would like to enhance your career, then why not join us here at ICMP? 

Our Admissions Team are on hand to help find the right course for you, from part-time introduction to vocals courses through to postgraduate courses we've got you covered,  call the team on 020 7328 0222 or email them at enquiries@icmp.ac.uk. 

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