In episode 11 of Interviews with Choir Leaders I chat with Dan Walker - Canberra-based composer, conductor and performer, Dan is one of Australia’s most in-demand choral specialists. His compositional and arranging output is extensive; among this body of work is the iconic arrangement of I Still Call Australia Home featured in the 2009 QANTAS television ad campaign.
Expect to learn:
Why audiences go berserk for video game music
Which one of Dan's mentors was named '2006 musician of the year' by the Sydney Morning Herald
Whether or not you should sing while you conduct your choir
Why a conductor should always act confident in front of their choir
Why it's more important for rehearsals to be enjoyable than performances
Why it's exciting but also frustrating when a choir sings one of your own compositions
And much more...
Watch on YouTube (click the image above). I’ll put future episodes on YouTube as well as the usual places. One great feature of YouTube is the ability to create timestamps/chapters, so you can easily navigate through the podcast to different topics.
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Check out my arrangement/recording of Alanis Morrissette’s “Hand In My Pocket” - featuring the vocal talents of Kat Power and yours truly.
I arranged this for Mixtape Chorus and then also added it to the repertoire of Strange Weather Choir. It’s a lot of fun to sing, especially the line “I feel drunk but I’m sober…”.
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Update from the Life of Dan
In September 2023 I spent a week in Auckland, NZ for the PanPacific Barbershop Harmony convention. The competing groups - quartets and choruses - were of such high quality. A few of those choruses just stomped the place and had the whole auditorium of people on their feet.
I was there with my barbershop chorus - The Canberra Chordsmen - and also my quartet - Synching Feeling. We sang well and I am proud of the guys.
One of the visiting groups from the USA was Instant Classic quartet. During an event called “Sing With The Champs” I got to sing the lead part on one of their songs - a jazz ballad called I Get Along Without You Very Well (some of you may know the Chet Baker version). Watch the video of me with Instant Classic below.
After the competition I went to “Judge School” - a Sunday-to-Wednesday rigorous school where they beat all humanity out of you and make you into a cold, calculating judging machine… Actually, the teachers and judge candidates were all lovely and I learned a lot about singing and barbershop competitions. I managed to pass, as you can see, I am now I am a certified judge in the SINGING category! (The other categories are MUSICALITY, PERFORMANCE and ADMINISTRATION).
One more thing…
I’ve been writing music using the program Ableton Live. There are some great sounds in there and it’s been fun experimenting.
Here’s a groovy track called The Smoothness. Remember to listen responsibly!
I've just gone down a rabbit warren of googling about not mouthing words as a conductor, from the comment from your last interview - this is a totally new concept to me! How do you feel about it? Definitely resonates with me that it would lead to better listening (from the conductor's point of view).