Mezzo-soprano Chess Taylor has made a name for herself performing in various venues, as part of the classical quartet Crescendo, and as one of the original performers in the “80’s live tour.” Chess was recently signed to Uniq Recording Artists and has released her debut single, “World in Union” which is now available to stream on all platforms. The track has over 10,000 streams and continues to climb.
CCM: Why did you choose this piece – what does it mean to you?
Chess Taylor: The tune of this song is instantly recognised, whether that be from the hymn ‘I Vow To Thee My Country’ or its association to the rugby world cup. To me, this song has a very powerful message and I have always been drawn to it.
‘There’s a dream, I feel
So rare, so real
All the world in union
The world as one’
These words are so relevant to what is going on in the world today. At a time where war is
breaking out, we must remember that we are all part of this world and learn once again the importance of working together. What I love about this song is that the words are so relatable to many different kind of situations, and it always makes sense. The message it gives is that nobody needs to struggle alone, we are all a team and we are all there to help each other. I knew I wanted to release a song that had real meaning to me, and this was the perfect choice.
CCM: When did you first hear this track?
Chess Taylor: I can recall hearing the Hayley Westerna version first, so it must have been 2011. I have always loved her voice, she is a big influence of mine. It of course then kept cropping up over the years with different singers. I do believe the song is loved by many and is a well-known Classical Crossover hit which will always have a popular audience.
CCM: What are some of the elements from the original that were important for you to keep and what were some of the new ideas you are most excited about?
Chess Taylor: To be honest, I feel as though I have kept true to the original version of this song. I know it has been altered by different artists over the years, but I love the strong and powerful beat of the original track and I think I have honoured that. As artists, we naturally put our own stamp on a song with phrasing and emphasis on certain words, as everyone interprets songs slightly differently. I did however change the ending of the song as I took the ending note a long way up from the tune. This was something I knew I would do as soon as I decided this was the song for me. I like an impressive ending and it made the song my own!
CCM: Were there any challenging moments in the piece?
Chess Taylor: For me, the technical side was the most challenging in this song. I wanted to get the message and feeling across in my delivery, so the phrasing was very important. This of course meant my breathing had to be perfect, especially in the last segment of the song where there are long phrases with sustained notes. So I had to work on this in the days leading up to the recording to make sure I had it perfect on the day.
CCM: Tell us a little bit about the production of the track?
Chess Taylor: I signed with Uniq Recording Artists at the start of this year and I was of course extremely excited to release my first song into the world. The recording studio just happened to be a 10 minute drive from my house, so I was fortunate enough to work closely with the producer in the initial stages of the song production. This meant that decisions about the production of the song were made quickly, allowing us to move swiftly onto the next step of the process. Also knowing that I didn’t want the song changed too much from the original made the process that much quicker. So from
signing to the label to recording my first song took a matter of weeks!
Stream “World in Union” on Spotify Now!
www.chesstaylor.com
