I was inveigled into joining Die Zeitlipe [Slow Motion] in response to an advert placed in the Weser Report on Wednesday, 3^rd March 2006.
The advert said that they were looking for reinforcements for a Benefit Concert to aid victims of the Tschernobyl-Catastrophe. This was a honey pot! They were actually looking for permanent members of a church choir attached to St. Michael, Bremen-Grohn. Despite a few misgivings, I joined up and as a bass with Collegium Musicum Bremen in my CV, I did not have to audition. I was happy to note that one of the tenors had also been a member of Collegium Musicum Bremen.
For a church choir, I found their repertoire to be very ambitious and they were very strict regarding choir discipline. Lateness for rehearsals, even on legitimate or reasonable grounds, for example could lead to dismissal.
One aspect I did admire however, was that during some rehearsals the choir would be split up into quartets. The quartets would then compete against each other and the members would then vote on the best quartet. The object was to ensure that the voices blended in volume - especially effective against individual singers being too loud.