pat,
it sounds as if you are singing in your regular singing voice and then
weakening it to bring it down to a 'blendable' level. that would wear you
out. one option you can take is to try singing completely differently when
you sing with a chorus. if you can use what would probably feel like a
'falsetto' to you at a speaking level effort, you'll find that you can use
this for most of the range you need for choral singing. you may need to
blend in a little 'mixed speaking' voice for the low notes. you may also
find that the high notes are a little squeeky (similar to the other
sopranos). using the same principles of resonance adjustment that you use
in your regular singing, you could probably reduce the squeekiness. if you
try this, tape it to make sure it works (or doesn't suck out loud). you may
feel, if you are successful, that you are not doing enough. if it works,
you don't need to do more and with so little effort, you will not wear
yourself out.
the other possibility, is that, unless you've already tested this, your
fear of blowing out the rest of the chorus is unfounded in two possible ways.
first, it may be that the conductor wants you as the 'foundation voice'
(with various techniques used to build from there) and is waiting for you to
sing 'full out'. the other possibility is, you might be over-estimating
your effect on the total outcome. in trying to be a cooperative chorister,
you may indeed be reducing your voice more than necessary for fear of
sticking out. unless the conductor has told you already to tone it down,
you need to sing out and let him/her balance you down as that is his/her job
not yours. a blend to a conductor does not always sound like a blend to the
singer (occasionally, in a bass line by itself, i can remember thinking i was
the only one singing).
mike
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