When I joined Vox Musica last year, there were only eight of us in the group. There’s some perks to being in such a small ensemble, but it also made things really challenging if someone was sick and missed a rehearsal. There’s a big difference in how you use your voice if you’re the only one singing a part versus singing with other people, even if it’s just one other person. I’ve been used to doing that, on and off, over the years in the church choir, but that was singing as a tenor, and thus I mostly spent my time modulating my voice to either blend with the other men, or just sing by myself and try to sound as much like a guy as possible so it wouldn’t be so horribly obvious that the only tenor in the crowd was actually not really a tenor at all.

This year, the group is four people larger, so now there’s three to a part, and what a lovely difference it makes. For one thing, our voices are stronger and more cohesive; for another, it takes a bit of pressure off of each of us as individuals, since there’s one more person per section to carry the weight of the notes. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the music we’re singing for our upcoming concert in September is more traditional than what we’ve sung before. The music might be just as complex and occasionally difficult, but there is more of a logic to the old styles of music, or rather, it feels more logical to me.

Since we’re a larger group, the director decided it was high time to update our photographs (the ones on the website still show the smaller group size). So Sunday night was spent wandering around downtown Sacramento for a three hour photo shoot.

I did a teensy bit of panicking when he mentioned that the photographer would be taking not only group shots, but head shots and individual shots of each of us as well. I have never been found of having my picture taken – a common enough sentiment for anyone who is overweight, naturally, but also because I just don’t photograph well for close-up stuff. And the one thing that might possibly make this slightly less horrid for me is the one thing I simply do not know how to do. I am nearly 40 years old and have never learned how to apply makeup – the only stuff I ever use on a regular basis is eyeliner and mascara, and that is only out of necessity for the trich. On a very rare occasion I might wear lipstick, but it always tastes weird (probably since I’m just not used to it) so I tend to avoid it. As for blush and eyeshadow, my only tentative attempts to use either have resulted in me looking like I either got a rather uneven and blotchy sunburn on my cheeks (blush), or was recently punched in the eye (eye shadow). I tried, once or twice in college, going to those makeup counters in the stores to get my face ‘done’ and have them show me how to do it, but that was never very successful, mainly because they always ended up putting on far too much, and they usually seemed more concerned with how to get me to buy whatever their latest line of product was, then helping me figure out how to put the darn stuff on in the first place.

Luckily one of the other altos (who also happens to be a coworker was willing to help me, so she and I met up before the assigned time and she did my makeup for me. I still feel a bit like I look like I got punched in the eye (I suppose that, with my deep-set eyes, I am simply doomed with that look no matter what I do), and lipstick still tastes weird, but at least I was properly painted and prettied up for the close-up pictures. And after the photo shoot I think we all got a little taste of what it might be like to be a model (my verdict – it’s not remotely fun). There was a lot of standing and sitting in hot sun, squinting up at the photographer who managed to stand so he was directly in the light, trying to keep our eyes from watering because it was so bright. And there was a lot of extremely awkward posing, standing in positions that felt as if they could not possibly look natural, until you watched the other women being posed and realized that, even if they were also feeling the same way, it looked perfectly natural to everyone looking on.

The new pictures, from what we’ve seen of them so far, look terrific. Despite the squinting and the sun and the awkward posing, the group shots, at least, look good. I suspect that, unless the group size changes again, that will be the end our brief taste of what it might be like to be a model. And so I am back to my usual makeup regime (or distinct lack thereof), still wishing that one of these days I could figure out how to do all that silly girl stuff by myself, even if I do occasionally look like I’ve gotten a nasty sunburn or been punched in the eye.