I've been listening to professional choirs lately, and I've noticed many of them use vibrato in non-solo pieces!

So my question is... Do you like vibrato?

Excessive vibrato in choirs is often the sign of a weak conductor. I've heard countless choirs where banks of singers warble away, oscillating their vibrato a quarter tone in either direction, but all doing it at different times. Result: an underlying musical cacophony which obscures the lines and produces a sound which the composer certainly didn't write in his manuscript. A good conductor would put a stop to it, if necessary by coaching each section or sub-section individually, and telling the ringleaders to 'put sock in it' (and firing them if they won't). But sopranos, in particular, at full warble can be intimidating, especially if they’re the musical director’s wife or related to the chief financial patron. So they're often permitted to yodel like Swiss peasants and wreck countless performances. It’s not good. Audiences shouldn’t tolerate it.

I quite agree with Purple99.

One of the finest choral groups I've heard here in the states is the St. Olaf Choir. Their sound is crystal clear and their diction absolutely superb, including the ending consonants. I got to hear them in a live performance this past spring when their tour stopped and performed at our local University of Arizona Centennial Hall - I was ushering that night ... superb performance.

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Krummhorn
Assistant Administrator

You know, it is terribly easy to blame vibrato as the culprit for poor musicianship, when the latter is really the problem. To use a choral palate which is completely devoid of vibrato is like painting only in black and white: skilled technicians know how to use EVERY color of their voices to the fullest extent in a choral setting.

Vibrato is not a bad thing, poor tuning and no control over vibrato is.