Hitting the High Notes

Writing by Melissa Whitworth

Photography by Justin Negard

Imagine a group of elite athletes at top of their game, performing at the very peak of human physical capacity. Except it’s not speed or strength that’s on display – it’s the athleticism and skill of the human voice in its purest form. Now imagine that elite group is right in your own backyard.

Meet Skylark, a Bedford-based group of renowned professional singers who are to the world of choral music what America’s top athletes are to sports, according to critics. Since their founding in 2011, they’ve earned three Grammy nominations and are widely regarded as one of the finest choirs in the country. Even the notoriously snooty U.K. classical music press (I’m a Brit – I should know) called the American choir “the highlight of a very British festival” when they debuted in London in 2018. The critic at The Times of London conceded they were “as mellifluously tuned as any British choir…brilliantly put across [with] sincerity and unforced beauty.”

Founded by husband and wife Executive Director Carolyn and Artistic Director Matthew Guard (who serve as the mezzo-soprano singer and the conductor, respectively), Skylark brings together the country’s most talented vocal performers. Between the entire ensemble, they’ve acquired dozens of Grammy nominations.

The choir’s center of operations, originally based in Boston, has been in Bedford since the Guards moved here with their two young sons in 2020. Skylark’s ensemble includes singers living in Denver, Boston, Chicago, Portland, New York City, Pennsylvania, Austin and California – commuting across the country to perform.

This quality of music would normally mean a trip to New York City, Boston or even London, but now, their renowned intimate concerts (no more than 200 seats) will take place at our local churches and halls in Bedford and its surrounding hamlets multiple times a year. It is a rare opportunity to hear world-class music on our doorstep, its founders say.

“I think there are two preconceived notions about choral music,” says Carolyn. “One is that it’s intimidating – that it’s high art, it’s high brow. And the second is that it’s boring.”

Skylark challenges that perception: whatever assumptions there may be about choral music, hearing a group of internationally-revered vocal acrobats sing in an intimate setting – a recent performance took place in a beautifully lit church last December – is an extraordinary experience.

“If you hear a beautiful voice sing a solo, it just hits you,” says Matthew. “That is something we all understand innately and intuitively. It’s not some really esoteric composition, it’s just the human voice. Everyone has the ability to be moved by that, by something simple and beautiful.”

Carolyn says the closeness between the performers and the audience also adds power.

“When the group gets loud, it gets really loud – you can feel it in your body,” she says. “And then, when the group gets quiet, you almost can’t hear it.”

This type of in-the-moment feeling – the act of being present and physically reacting to music – is something she believes is missing from our modern lives.

“People right now, in our society, don’t get that chance to be in the moment very often,” says Carolyn. “They’re constantly being diverted by technology. But ensemble music necessarily requires incredible concentration. Audiences feel a heightened sense of empathy and are immersed in the moment. The choir can feel that, too.”

Modernizing tradition

What the Guards set out to do is special. The group crosses traditional boundaries with each concert, including unusual, modern or rarely-sung pieces. And while they draw heavily from traditional and sometimes ancient songs (Gregorian chants from the 1500s or Welsh folk songs from the 1300s), the concerts are arranged by theme, rather than era or style.

For example, “Clear Voices in the Dark,” which will be performed on May 28 at Bedford Presbyterian Church, weaves together one of the most complex and intimidating pieces of music ever written for a choir – Francis Poulenc’s “Figure Humaine,” which was composed during World War II against the backdrop of France’s resistance to German occupation. It’s based on resistance poetry and was created with the knowledge that the music might never be performed, or that the manuscript and its composer might not survive the war. One piece is based on Paul Éluard’s poem “Liberté,” which the RAF dropped by parachute over occupied France – the poem was hidden inside crates containing weapons.

“‘Clear Voices in the Dark’ was the program where I first realized what my job was – which was to pick the music and pick programs that really engage people,” says Matthew.

To create the whole concert, he combines the French music with American Civil War songs, intertwining the shared experiences of war and resistance into a concert-length show.

“The group was absolutely terrified to sing this piece,” Matthew remembers of “Figure Humaine,” the first time they approached the music.

“These are all professional musicians, and they’d never sung it before. It’s complicated. The harmony is really difficult. It’s very fast. It might be the most difficult piece ever written for an a capella choir. It’s a high-wire act for a singer.”

The final performance was so emotional and challenging that at the end, on the very last note – a high E sung by Skylark’s soprano Sarah Moyer – some members of the choir burst into tears.

“Actually getting through that piece and having successfully achieved that was just a monumental experience for everybody,” says Matthew.

This was in 2015 in Atlanta. They performed it again two years later in New York at The French Institute, and then in Washington D.C. at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, which was Abraham Lincoln’s church. Next, it will be sung here in Bedford.

Back to the beginning

Carolyn and Matthew met as undergraduates at Harvard University. Carolyn grew up in Bangor, Maine, singing in the choir at St. John’s Episcopal Church. That church has deep musical roots. It’s affiliated with the Royal School of Church Music in England and was founded in 1927 by the then-organist at Westminster Abbey. Matthew grew up in Atlanta and sang in The Harvard Krokodiloes a capella group, which took him and its members on three international tours to six continents.

“It was a crazy experience,” he says. “We did a hundred concerts a year over three years, and we went to 25 or 30 countries.”

Although music was their passion, they chose a more practical career route and, after college, they both moved to Atlanta, attended Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and went into consulting. But they knew they wanted to pursue something creative and work for themselves eventually.

After several years in high-intensity corporate positions, Carolyn founded a business called Babiators – a children’s sunglasses company, alongside Matthew and two college friends. Within six months of founding Babiators, the couple was able to leave their jobs, run their own business and, most importantly, create Skylark.

When two Harvard friends moved to Bedford during the pandemic, the Guards followed suit, believing its proximity to New York City and tight community feel would be a perfect spot to raise their boys, Harry, who is eight, and Arthur, who is four.

Today they devote their time between their business and their passion project. Babiators and Skylark take about 20 percent and 80 percent of their time, respectively.

Tuning into family

Even though they live throughout the country, the members of Skylark consider themselves very much a family. Four artists have been with the group since the beginning, and most of the core members have sung with the Guards since 2020. They speak to each other daily, they have stood in each other’s weddings, and they are godparents to each other’s children.

“We have a long-term core roster of artists that we try not to turn over frequently,” Carolyn says.“It takes a while to get a group to feel cohesive, and once you have a stable group of people who respect each other’s voices and understand each other, the audience can feel it. So much of choral singing is about empathy. The more you sing together the fewer inhibitions you have and the more you are willing to try out new things, and that makes the music that much better.”

Of working together as husband and wife, Carolyn says, “There are some couples who don’t work well together. But we have similar enough work styles and complementary skills, and we love working together. The more we’re doing together, the better, the happier and more effective we are.”

“But combining all of this with small children is complicated,” she admits. “It’s just hard. It’s hard to be an entrepreneur who is running your own business or businesses and have two young children who also need you.”

“We figure out when we’re going to be together,” Matthew adds, “and then what we’re going to divide and conquer. If one person needs to work, then the other person has to be on kid duty. Whether that’s picking them up from school, making lunches, putting one down for a nap or making dinner.”

Colorado-based soprano Sarah Moyer – the one who sings the high E note in the near-impossible choral high-wire act of “Clear Voices in the Dark” says the family-style atmosphere is what allows her to remain a member.

“Skylark is leading in the pro-choir world when it comes to taking care of parenting artists,” she says. “I am currently one of five artists in Skylark with a child under the age of two. While we wait for a spot to open at my son’s daycare, I bring him and my parents with me to all of my gigs. They care for him while I’m in rehearsals and concerts.”

“Because of Skylark’s ‘Babylark’ stipend,” she continues, “I am able to afford to bring my six-month-old son with me on the road without having to forfeit my full paycheck to cover childcare costs. This type of financial care exists nowhere else in the pro-choir industry, and I’m so grateful to be part of an organization that strives to keep its parenting artists working, especially while they navigate such a new chapter of their lives.”

Community chords

A year after the Guards moved to Bedford, they realized it would be the perfect town for Skylark’s headquarters, given the community’s strong interest in the arts and the numerous other non-profits here that are thriving.

“The point of Skylark is that there is always a connection to the local community, which is unique compared to other choral groups,” says Carolyn. “Visiting singers stay at friends’ or friends-of-friends’ homes. There are dinners for Skylark performers and audience members. Drinks receptions after a performance allow singers and concert-goers to get to know each other. We really try to get to know the community.”

Although it’s rare to have world-class musicians embed themselves in a small community, it’s an integral part of Skylark’s mission.

“We want the community members to meet our artists and get to know them as people,” Carolyn continues. “Because if you can say, ‘Ooh, there’s Melissa up on stage, and she’s staying in my house, and she’s singing this huge solo,’ that makes it really special. And that’s a different experience than just seeing someone in a huge performance with 2,000 people where you never get to meet them. We care about this community because of the people who are here, and we care about Skylark because of the people who are there. So, why not connect the two and create an even more special experience?”

“Clear Voices in the Dark” will be performed on May 28 at 3:00 p.m. at Bedford Presbyterian Church. Tickets are available at www.skylarkensemble.org.

This article was published in the May/June 2023 edition of Connect to Northern Westchester.