The Choir Lab

 

The Choir Lab was an experiment to see what happened when the classically trained choristers of The Choir of St James’ (ca. 2013-2016) were placed outside their comfort zone.  The Choir Lab’s singers sang sacred classical music every week, and whilst some spent their spare time singing in musicals, teaching, or playing jazz, others had never been to a pop concert or had never sang solo in a studio environment.

 

All songs were written by Brooke Shelley, specially tailored for each soloist's strengths and characteristics.

 

The result is a set of songs influenced by a variety of styles with melodies individually crafted to suit (or push) each singer. In addition to the singers being out of their comfort zone, Brooke also forced herself to write in styles she was not used to. 

 

Does the experiment work or are they out of their depth? It’s up to you, the listener, to decide. But you will definitely feel a sense of journey and discovery when you listen to these songs and know this isn’t simply an album that fits into a pre-cut commercial mould:  it is a deliberate attempt to take both the singers and the songwriter out of their comfort zone and to see if they sink or swim!

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The Artists

 

Singers (*lead vocal):

Pip Dracakis, Josi Ellem*, Owen Elsley*, Rob Hansen*, Helen Hughson*, Luke Iredale*, Liza Lilli*, Sebastien Muray, Amy Moore, Phil Murray, Andrew O'Connor*, Warren Trevelyan-Jones, Brooke Shelley*, Alex Siegers, Isabella Woods*.

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Instrumentalists:

Dave Beeston (drums), Janine Harris (viola), Tom Lee (timpani), Bethan Lillicrap (cello), Gavin Perkins (bass), Brooke Shelley (keyboards)

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CD Cover Art:

Monica Silvio (illustrationbymon.com)

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CD Cover Design:

Matt Roberts (matthewrobers.com.au)

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Recording Engineers:

Dorny Mayes, Matt Roberts, Michael Twomey (timpani only)

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Mixing Engineer:

Chris Bolster

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Mastering Engineer:

Ian Jones

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