10 January 2026
The Orchestra sings under Dermot Tutty’s expertise
Written by 2026 Media and Communication participant, Bridget Hutchinson
Three words you would not have heard here at National Music Camp in many years: the orchestra sings! Yes, for the first time since the 90s, each of the two orchestras will be putting down their instruments to have their voices heard in Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé. Join me as I attend the first rehearsal in this new choral endeavour.
Tuesday 2pm, the camp participants file into a buzzing Elder Hall. Everyone spreads out and takes their seats as Dermot Tutty, this year’s director of the AYO choir, steps onto the stage.
“First thing, back two rows come and sit up the front.”
Dermot Tutty
Cue thunderous applause as musicians cheer on their exiled friends.
The first hour of rehearsal is spent with orchestral musicians – many of whom have never been part of a choir – discovering their voices. Laughter is a common sound as Dermot leads us through warmups that explore our range and the relationship between our vocal folds and whole body. Dermot guides us in taking deep breaths and pointing out the areas involved in singing (spoiler alert: it’s more than just our mouths). Everyone stands and points to their legs in a line that will definitely be quoted for the remainder of camp: “These… are my thighs.”
We sing through exercises in solfege and range, resulting in a feeling I heard expressed often post-rehearsal: “we actually sound good!” After a quick test to determine our voice types, we are sat in our sections and begin work on Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances. Sopranos cautiously scope out their upcoming high A-sharps as we begin in the rousing middle section, jumping right into harmonies and projection technique. The basses and tenors provide a powerful foundation as we sing of glory and honour at the piece’s dynamic peak. Dermot leads with expertise and good humour, allowing everybody to loosen up and feel comfortable exploring for what is many a previously unexplored avenue of music making.
We finish at the start, rounding out the rehearsal with the sopranos and altos singing their opening melody. The harmonies flutter in the air as we play the role of maidens entertaining prisoners in the Polovtsian camps. Despite feeling the large amount of work required in the lead up to the concert, the sentiment after the rehearsal is unreserved optimism.
I speak with some musicians about their time, and they tell me they already feel the benefits of singing in this setting: a closer connection to their breathing, a better understanding of the music, and even just how fun it was. We leave with heads full of new techniques and quotable quips*, eagerly anticipating the moment we get to hear both orchestras finally united later this week.