Singing in a choir when you can't see the conductor may present a few challenges, but for those who regularly sing in a choir, it can be overcome with a bit of preparation.
But how do you conduct a choir when you can't see the singers?
This is a challenge Julee-anne Bell, who is totally blind, tackles whenever she conducts the South Burnett Chorale in Kingaroy, 3.5 hours drive from Brisbane, Queensland.
"I moved to the area in 2018 and I was asked by several people whether I would take on the role of conducting the choir," Julee-anne says. "They welcomed me with mostly open arms … and I was accepted fairly quickly by the choir."
How does braille music work?
If you are familiar with printed sheet music, braille music works quite differently. Julee-anne explains that braille music is a series of symbols rather than stave notation. "It's quite intricate to read and it's very common for blind people to see only their part when looking at a score because it declutters the page," she says.
But as the conductor, Julee-anne needs to know all the parts so she can teach and conduct her ensemble.
A single page of print music score might take multiple pages of braille to convey the same information. "This means that my pages are very complex and that there are a lot of them. I have to do a lot of memorisation before I take a piece to the ensemble so that I am able to teach it as well as conduct it," she says.
Conducting, reading and teaching with just two hands
Most choral conductors spend many years working on coordinating their hands, which makes conducting from braille music extra challenging. When working with her choir, Julee-anne tracks her braille score with her left hand and conducts with her right.
"Every now and then I get carried away and I just take my left hand off the score and I keep conducting, [then] I completely lose [my place] in the score," Julee-anne relates.
Julee-anne elaborates how these challenges play out when she conducted the chorus of Seussical, a musical based on the Dr Seus children's stories. "I'm reading, I'm playing, I'm trying to give beats where possible."
Despite these challenges, Julee-anne says braille was essential to her ability to be a musical director. "I wouldn't say [braille] gave me a level playing field because trying to read, play and conduct with two hands is not quite so easy, but it certainly put me in the ballpark with my colleagues and I'm very proud of the result we produced," she says.
Julee-anne explains that she has to do so much more with words and really feel the room. She has a Masters Degree in choral conducting and says she was fortunate to have been taught by a wonderful lecturer, Dr Richard Swan. "The proof is really in the pudding because when you try something with your hands and the ensemble does something, you know that it's been successful," Julee-anne says.
Julee-anne is confident she can engage the choir without the need to see them. "I'm able to really encourage my ensemble just in the same way as a sighted conductor would before a performance," she says.
Just because you can't see doesn't mean you don't know what's going on
Navigating other people's assumptions is sometimes Julee-anne's greatest challenge. Often people think that if she can't see, she has missed something. "It's important to remember that people who can see miss things all the time," she says. "The things that I might miss might be different from the things that a sighted person might miss.
"Blindness doesn't mean you can't do things, just that you can't see things."
The Chorale has a very strong core group of singers, including Julee-anne's husband Thomas. "He can sing anything that I ask him to. I have to remember to ask not tell him," Julee-anne quips.
"I've [also] learned to just take help where it's offered, and not be too proud to say 'can someone tell me what bar is that please?'" Julee-anne admits.
Why do choristers love to sing together?
Singing is a great leveller, Julie-anne says. It allows you to feel your feelings and to change your mood. "We know that heart rates and blood pressure are regulated when people sing together," she says.
Illustrating the real mental health and physical benefits her choir plays in the small-town community, Julee-anne says: "[We know] singing helps with isolation. If we get a decent rain, some choristers can't come into town for several days. If they know they get to come to Chorale and sing with us, it breaks their isolation for them."
"Singing comes from our bodies, it comes from us, and there's a vulnerability in that," Julee-anne says.
"There's an exhilaration when you get it right and that's so special and so treasured and so human, and I think it's just the most wonderful thing to do."