Medieval Women's Choir will fill St. James with the sounds of an English Christmas

While the Medieval Women's Choir, by definition, concentrates on the Middle Ages, its programs range all over the European continent as well as the United Kingdom. On Saturday night at St. James Cathedral, the group goes to England with "Nowel Syng We: An English Christmas."

"It's a lovely program," said Nancy Zylstra, guest conductor for the concert. A well-known singer of period music and vocal coach, Zylstra is the first person to conduct the choir other than its founder, Margriet Tindemans, who is on leave.

"She designed the program with the choir in mind," said Zylstra. "There is a lot of variety with three soloists -- Marian Seibert, Ann Glusker and Stacey Sunde -- which provides opportunities for solos and duos and trios alternating with the choir. They are placed around the cathedral, its nooks and crannies, to demonstrate a sense of the space, which is gorgeous and dignified. One doesn't have to oversing there: The cathedral makes the sound bloom."

St. James, she noted, was not prized for its acoustic ambience before the 1994 renovation. Before, she said, it was like a "large, padded cell -- all that acoustical tile on the ceiling and sea green carpet on the floor."

The music ranges from the 14th century to the 15th, including music of two of the most influential composers of day -- Leonel Power and John Dunstable -- although now they are known primarily to early music specialists. There also will be carols, composed for Christmas celebrations at the English court.

The choir grew out of a class Tindemans taught. No one is sure of the year the class became the Medieval Women's Choir -- 1990 or 1991. At first there were about 11 women, growing to 30 and currently 60, divided into two choirs.

Zylstra has worked with the ensemble for about three years, doing vocal training in rehearsals and at workshops. That kind of high-level professional help would be welcomed by any chorus but especially at the women's choir because no one has to audition to get in, so technical abilities vary greatly. The soprano, whose career has ranged over three continents, also has wide experience in choral ensembles, having participated in the founding of the Seattle Pro Musica and Choral Arts.

It is probable that Zylstra would not be guest conducting the women's choir if her singing career had not run aground in the 1990s, when she began to experience what she calls "unusual vocal problems," such as an inability to hold long tones steady without losing pitch. At first, she said, she didn't know the cause of the problem, although she knew it was not an issue of age: She was only in her early 40s and in the prime of her distinguished career. "Just singing became more uncomfortable and effortful. It used to be easy." Then, she began canceling engagements -- a "Messiah" in Japan, a "Dido and Aeneas" in New York.

"It was as if Lily Tomlin, in her role as the fictional phone operator, were in charge of my voice, putting calls through deliberately to the wrong person. I would aim for one thing and get another."

She saw one doctor, then another and another, went to voice teachers, tried various therapeutic vocal techniques, attended clinics throughout the country, sought advice from all sorts of experts, endured injections into her vocal cords. She stopped singing, at first temporarily then permanently.

"It was all making me crazy. I felt so frustrated and angry."

Her last major effort to reclaim her voice was at clinics in Philadelphia and Duke University that specialized in vocal problems. She eventually was told her problem was not one of a malfunctioning technique but an incurable neurological disorder.

The whole process took about five years. "It became obvious we had done everything we could. I can still sing -- one phrase -- with no loss of range or dexterity. Students say you can sing. Yes, but only one phrase and one phrase is not a concert."

For Zylstra, ending her career at its height was a bitter pill. She was extending her relationships with such eminent conductors as Ton Koopman, Andrew Parrott, Gustav Leonhardt and Nicholas McGegan and with orchestras in both Europe and Canada, San Francisco and Portland. She was a frequent soloist at festivals in Berlin, Berkeley and France.

"I had to stop feeling sorry for myself and move on with my life."

She now teaches privately full time, at master classes throughout the United States, and relishes conducting. "I had been singing so much I never had time to conduct. Now, I do, and I like it. Basically, I can't be quiet."