My Name is Jon Walker and I belong to the Big County Chorus, the Leeds and Bradford Barbershop Harmony Club, where I am Assistant M.D.

I attended Directors College in January with the M.D. of the B.C.C., Hazel Jiggins. We met other people who also had the same ambitions as ourselves; to become better MD's of their choruses.

How I got to Directors College was amazing, the BCC. applied for a scholarship for Hazel but instead of one scholarship they got one for me as well, which really took me by surprise. I was over the moon with the news and very excited about going to Coventry in January, I was really looking forward it.

When the first day came I was worried about what will happen to the others and me. Would we be asked to come down to the front and introduce ourselves to the other higher placed M.D's there, but no, just a big screen and Mike Lofthouse talking about who the people were who received the Steve Hall and other Harmony Foundation Scholarships.

We each had different subjects to learn from, mine was M.D. chorus control, where as other people found other subjects more useful to them. There was a lot of talking in subject class, not about how a M.D. should be but also on chorus recruitment, and chorus development which I found not to be of any use to me.

We all received some music to learn as we would be singing "0ld Saint Louie", a fantastic slow song and one of my favourites to this day. I already knew the song in two voice parts, Bass and Lead, but with my voice being sore and deep, as I was recovering from a bout of flu, I chose Bass.

When singing 'Old Saint Louie' we were told how to perform in our voice style, which was a big help, I could sing notes lower than I had ever sung before and still do it to this day at rehearsal.

I think I helped others in their music ability and in understanding how to be a M.D., stance and music understanding, being a musician myself I think I had an advantage to the others.

Other people helped me by telling me about the way I stand and perform, the way I stand with my feet and body, they really commented about how strong I look and how much I enjoy directing a chorus or other people, which is what I love doing in Barbershop.

I was really surprised about what was said about my performance as a M.D. to a small chorus, (a quartet from Grand Central and other class friends).

Conclusions:

I gained a lot of information from the faculty of D.C. and have taken everything in and more, I talked to friends that I have known for many years and they told me about different ways of performing as a Director and to the chorus.

I have started using the knowledge I gained at D.C. to my advantage with my chorus, but only slowly. By directing differently I have been told by my chorus that they have noticed an improvement and that I am responding in a different manner and approach to the chorus and their questions.

I have gained a lot of confidence from B.C.C. since I have been to D.C. and they are responding well to my instructions and directions.

I would like to say a big thank you to all the staff and participants at D.C. for all their hard work and effort put into the weekend, a wonderful time to remember and I might apply again when the time comes and to try a different level.

Once again thank you for a wonderful weekend and I would recommend it to any people who are thinking about becoming a M.D. in the future or are one now and just need help in certain areas, because it will help no matter what the style or level you are.

Jon Walker, Assistant M.D.

Big County Chorus. Leeds and Bradford Barbershop Harmony Club