From youth music in Scotland to international policy: NYCOS inspired leadership through singing
Isobel McIntosh finished singing with NYCOS when she moved to London after university. Today, she juggles her lifelong love of singing with a demanding role in the civil service. On top of her day job, Isobel upholds her commitment to music and sings with Londinium – a prolific chamber choir that performs advanced repertoire. Her career in international relations has evolved from her love of travel and her passion for what can be achieved when people work together. Almost two decades on from her time in the choir, Isobel still feels the lasting impact of NYCOS in the daily demands of her leadership role.
A passion for music has enriched generations of Isobel’s family tree. Her five-times-great grandfather was a piper, and then her grandmother was a singer. Isobel’s early love of singing flourished from the notes of her grandmother’s old music books.
“I really loved singing so joined the primary school choir when I was about eight. I was really keen to do more and more, so my singing teacher recommended NYCOS to me. I auditioned one day, got in, and took it from there.”
With sights set on taking her singing to the next level, Isobel joined the NYCOS Training Choir in 2005 and progressed to the National Youth Choir of Scotland in 2006. She stayed with the choir until 2008 and feels that the Hungary tour in 2007 was a major highlight. Isobel believes that her parents kept the newspaper clipping of the National Youth Choir of Scotland pictured with Budapest behind them.
Pictured: The National Youth Choir of Scotland in Budapest in 2007
“That’s an iconic picture – that’s us in Budapest, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It was such a hot summer so one of the challenges of doing the tour was being inside incredible churches and just feeling like we were melting in the heat!
There’s a great tradition for choral music in Eastern Europe and we were really lucky that the churches were packed everywhere we went (and these weren’t small churches, they were substantial venues). We sang in two massive venues in Budapest; St Stephen’s Basilica was a cool place to sing because it had quite an echo, so you had to build the acoustics into the performance. Then there was also the Church of Our Lady Buda, which was another beautiful one.
We didn’t just stay in Budapest; we went to Nyíregyháza, and Debrecen, and Eger. I’ve been back to Budapest, but I’ve never been to those other places in Hungary. All the people we met had so much passion and appreciation for choral singing – it was one of the most incredible tours I’ve ever been on.”
With music in her pocket, Isobel went to the University of St Andrews to study Economics and Mathematics. At university and beyond, music kept Isobel connected with like-minded friends and helped her feel at home in unfamiliar surroundings.
“I had a vocal scholarship at university, which helped a lot. There were so many opportunities there – several chapel choirs, Gilbert and Sullivan, Opera – all with so many passionate people. The really nice thing is that I met some of them at NYCOS beforehand. Moving away from home is always intimidating so it was really nice to already know people with common interests.
I moved down to London after university and started singing with more adult choirs. We sang in Hungarian and also performed in the BBC Proms in NYCOS, so when I joined the BBC Symphony Chorus in London, doing those things didn’t feel so intimidating. I had already done those things in a very supportive and friendly environment at NYCOS, also with people from the same background as me. I wasn’t left thinking ‘what am I doing?!’ when I moved to London.”
From the friendships that are forged, to the music memories that are made and the confidence that is inspired, being part of NYCOS is about so much more than singing. Identifying just one of the most meaningful impacts of a NYCOS experience can be tough, so Isobel chose three!
“…the music, the teamwork, and the importance of good leadership.
In the days before music streaming, how do you discover music if you don’t have that in your family? In terms of a musical education, I learned great pieces by Vaughan Williams, or Poulenc, or Bernstein, and being exposed to that was just fantastic. It set the bar to what was achievable.
The other thing was learning that if you want to do something really, really well then you need to do it with other people – people who are passionate about the thing you’re passionate about. Then in addition having a bit of talent, people who can put in the hard work. Getting that on the scale that I did in NYCOS, you see how important working together and supporting other people is.
The final thing was learning the importance of good leadership. NYCOS exists because Christopher [Bell, Artistic Director and founder] had the vision to set it up and build up choral singing in Scotland. That showed me the importance of good leadership but also hearing him talk about leadership has stayed with me. In my work, I manage teams now and bring lots of people together. Christopher talked about conducting and told us that ‘if you’re tense when you’re conducting, then the whole choir and orchestra are going to be tense because they can feel that from you. As a leader, you need to be assured in what you’re asking of people’. I hope I take that forward to the people I lead now. Like Christopher did for us, I want to give my teams the confidence that I know they can do what I’m asking them to do.”
Since 1996, the ripple effects of a NYCOS experience have spread throughout generations. Be part of NYCOS’ 30th anniversary and celebrate three decades of changing lives through music.