Janice Creenaune meets Andrew Pedrana, who had various occupations before becoming a high school teacher and moving to the Illawarra.
Andrew Pedrana only began singing fairly recently with The Slap Dash Choir. “A friend recommended the choir when it first started last year. Singing had never really featured in my life and I did not feel especially confident, but I thought it was a good way to meet people. It was just down the road and there was no pressure, no auditions, just turn up and sing for a six-week block in the Excelsior Hall in the Thirroul Library complex.”
What Andrew found though was much more.
“Elliot Peck, the choir-master, inspires us all and the choir has really grown in numbers. He works as a speech pathologist, and he understands the importance of song in developing speech. He also understands us as individuals and draws us together as one unit. It is an amazing ability.
“But even more, I think we have all grown within ourselves simply by participating in the choir each week,” Andrew says.
Each week he walks away from the session re-energised. “When we sing it all comes together, with the harmonies especially, I really do get goose-bumps. There is something about the human voice and singing together which joins us together spiritually. Singing has such a strong history in nature and in various cultures around the world. Elliot gets everybody singing and each week becomes another amazing experience.”
Andrew says he has always participated in club activities such as AFL or basketball. “The Slap Dash Choir though is a whole different experience and quite moving. ‘Uplifting’ is the only word I can put to it. I feel uplifted each week and walk away really calm, relaxed and happy.”
One of the initial assurances for the choir was that there would be no public performances and each block would only last six weeks. The Slap Dash Choir was created just for the singers. No additional pressures leading up to anything, just the joy of singing together.
“When we sing we only spend about 15 minutes on each song and about three to four different ones each week and they can come from various genres. It often surprises me how fast we pick up a song, especially when it is in another language. Some are from Swahili or Cameroon, as well as incorporating Whitney Huston, Adele or Kylie Minogue’s Come into my world, for example, into the repertoire. Our songs can be very popular, but most often we just sing the chorus of the song. We practice two to three times and then sing. There is always a real buzz from the choir with the result.”
The six-week period allows for a break for performers and the choir-master. So far it has apparently worked really well from all angles, and the choir keeps growing.
Andrew says the camaraderie among the group “is part of the reason we are all there”.
“For many of us it is an awakening that we really can sing, and we can sing well. No matter if you are bass, tenor, alto or soprano, if we sing together we can make an enormous sound that lifts us all.”
Andrew says though women currently make up the majority of the choir, a “Bring a bloke for free” program is aimed at boosting male membership.
“But our blokes are building up in numbers as word spreads and our choir continues to grow. We all wear name-tags and during breaks from singing we meet each other. The whole experience lasts for only an hour. So much happens it is really unbelievable how it changes my entire week as I continue to sing in my head during work-times. I am even thinking I may join the choir at school to encourage more male members. It is something we can all do and grow in confidence.
“We all have the ability to sing,” Andrew said.
The Illawarra offered Andrew an ideal city to begin teaching because it was half-way to Sydney and close to partner Ella’s family. (Ella is also a Slap Dash Choir member.) “The Illawarra also offered us some beautiful beaches to enjoy and now we both have the choir to enjoy together.”
The Slap Dash Choir gives Andrew and many others an opportunity to develop skills many had previously not even thought of and the camaraderie developed is priceless.
