We first attended a workshop led by a Finnish a cappella group called Club for Five, made up of two women and three men, who have already produced six albums since their founding in 2000. There we learnt to treat our voices as instruments and how to ‘play’ different instruments. We discovered the power of improvisation when the group, along with the rest of the audience, came up with a pop song, words and all, on the spot! They even came up with actions! We left the workshop buzzed, excited to put our new skills into practice… We found a way to try out our new skills at St Pancras train station, where we had our lunch; when we found the pianos scattered across the station, it wasn’t long before Diana was bashing out on the keys and all of us were singing along! We even gathered a small audience!
After lunch, we reconvened at the King’s Place and went to watch a group called Countermeasure, from Toronto. They performed brilliantly, not only showing us how a great group uses the techniques we had been shown earlier, but also telling us about Canada in general. After many renditions of the Beatles, the Barenaked Ladies and Cole Porter, it was time to go. We managed to have a quick chat with some of the group members who were glad that we had learned something from them. On the way back to school, the car was filled with music as we tried out what we’d learnt on all of our favourite songs… We all agreed that it was one of the best trips we have ever been on and we are all eager to go again next year!