Get to know…
…the singers
Philip Eick
Meet Philip, our unsung hero and master of versatility! He's the quiet force behind the scenes who can effortlessly slip into any role—whether it's beatboxing, holding down the bass, or taking the spotlight in a solo. Despite his incredible talent, he's the last person to boast about it. But don't let his understated demeanor fool you; bring up climate change, and he'll shift from lighthearted banter to serious contemplation in the blink of an eye!
Margrethe Debel Christensen
Margrethe, the heartbeat of our group, never fails to remind us to embrace our humanity and have a blast, even when facing musical challenges. She’s the founder of the choir Airo from Aarhus, Denmark and released her first arrangement for choir in 2024. With the brightest smile in the room and conducting that feels more like a dance, she's a joy to follow. Those VOPA signs? It's like watching poetry in motion!
Frieda Funk
Meet Frieda, our steadfast motivator and truth-teller. With unbridled enthusiasm and a knack for honesty, she keeps us on our toes and sparks creativity when inspiration wanes. As the conductor of the Danish talent choir Midtvest Pigekor, Frieda brings her expertise to every performance. With her at the helm, every musical endeavor takes on a new depth.
Mira Siegel
Mira, our resident joker and high note acrobat, can turn any musical moment into a sidesplitting comedy or a tear-jerking ballad. As an award-winning composer Mira has written music for everything from full symphony orchestra, to choir, to trombone-ensembles and to her own pop/folk band, which has played at several festivals. When Mira claims to be the funniest person in our group, we can't help but agree — laughter follows her like a melody.
Tjeda Efken
She's the master of epic solos, both in rehearsals and on stage. Fearlessly exploring new vocal territories with extended techniques, she adds depth to our soundscapes. She’s starred in several movies and series as a singer and actress in Berlin, and performed with the Rolling Stones for an audience of 20,000 people on Waldbühne. Tjeda's keen ear for sonic nuances and her knack for maintaining perspective make her the perfect guide through our musical adventures, ensuring each note resonates with clarity and depth.
Peter Svane-Christiansen
Peter, the gentle soul with a flair for the dramatic! Whether he's belting out a solo or harmonizing with the others, he delivers performances that leave a lasting impression. From heartfelt serenades to dramatic scenes, he infuses every note with passion and a touch of theatrics. With a resume boasting participation in numerous ambitious choirs and vocal groups such as the classical choir Akademisk Kor Århus & the Pop choir Syng Selected - Peter brings a wealth of musical experience to every performance.
Vocal Painting - Our approach to create music
We use, develop and customize a non-verbal language called VoPa (=vocal painting) for creating music. VOPA is an extensive collection of interactive hand signals developed by Jim Daus Hjernøe (DK). VOPA is used to communicate non-verbally between conductors and singers to create improvisational vocal art. The system offers an advanced set of tools to lend shape and structure to the music of the moment. Both conductor and singers are able to implement live arranging, live composing, re-arranging, re-composing, use of contrasting elements such as shifting keys, modules and time signature etc. during a performance. It can also be used within traditional repertoire to convey details during rehearsals and live in concert.
VOPA has its roots in Soundpainting (Walter Thompson, US) and is a vocal evolution of his original music sign language. In VOPA it has become a new language for vocal art, used to complement conventional conducting techniques of choral music. VoPa, a main tool in The Intelligent Choir methodology (Jim Daus Hjernøe), is currently consisting of 75 signals and more are in the making. The signals are easy to understand and the conductor can use them to adjust the musical expression within every desired musical parameter. Through the development of VOPA, as a pedagogical tool and an artistic methodology, the signals have shown to be surprisingly effective as an easy and fast way to create music with singers of all levels, from audience participation to the highest professional level of vocal arts.