My Helsinki Chamber Choir Internship with Tenso CONNECT by Linda Kruse

My internship started by stepping into a plane in March and switching our first long awaited days of spring in Germany with the last bits of winter in Helsinki, where already from the plane I could still spot frozen lakes and rivers - which was already super exciting to me.

Nevertheless I was very warmly welcomed in Helsinki, starting with my assigned mentor and Tenso intern Emma offering me help by text even before I arrived. The best part of being a choir singer is working with people, still, joining a new group for the first time can make me a little nervous, especially in a foreign country: Will people be nice, did I prepare well enough...?

The women of the Helsinki chamber choir took those doubts away from me pretty quickly, with everyone being really friendly and interested about our internship. To my great pleasure I had also met my fellow intern Julie eight years before on another project - there’s nothing like meeting dear colleagues again!

The piece we worked on was a ballet based on a Greek tragedy by Samy Moussa. Being written for women’s voices and symphonic orchestra, it was a rather unusual project for a chamber choir. However I liked it a lot! On top of that, the professionalism of the choir made it really easy to enjoy the rehearsal process, people were concentrated and quick, still, rehearsals had a familiar and relaxed atmosphere to them. Maybe that’s the Scandinavian spirit that strikes me as a German. ;) On the plus side: the piece was in Greek, which united all of us in having to cope with correct pronunciation.

A chat with our mentors delivered valuable and interesting insights on how the choir’s

administration works but also showed me how all over Europe singers and choirs in the freelance world face similar challenges. It’s always nice to know you’re not alone!

Some nice and sunny days allowed me to explore Helsinki and its amazing architecture before we sang the concert in the great concert hall before I left for home again, taking with me memories of a beautiful concert, the amazing feeling of immersing in the sound of Helsinki chamber choir and meeting inspiring people. This experience definitely encouraged me to pursue and enhance my career in choir singing, I can only recommend it!

Linda Kruse IG: @linda.kruse.mezzo