Fifteen Years to This Day

Dear Choir Girl readers,

My blog is 15 years old! I am as surprised as you. While I have contemplated with the idea of retiring this blog, a few readers convinced me it is not yet time. 

There is less arts journalism all the time. It is rare for a magazine or newspaper to even have funds to contract an arts and entertainment writer for local coverage these days. If you are lucky enough to get a writer in attendance at your event, you'd be lucky to have one that is knowledgeable enough to comment and critique the performance. It feels like the platforms with quality artistic discourse are ones run by the writer themselves, with some kind of Patreon subscription to make their work financially sustainable. Sure, established, popular artists will still have an opportunity to get media coverage, but what about all the emerging voices and groups that have something to say? While I do not have the stamina to keep up with my choir posts of the past, I do feel there needs to be a platform to host artistic content. Thus, this blog continues to live on. I will continue to save this online space for me to publish choral musings of myself and others as occasions arise.

It was only five years ago that I published this 10 year recap. It is heart-warming to see the array of beloved choral faces even today. It reminds me of singing opportunities I have been fortunate to experience. As well, it reminds me of how my blog has introduced me to so many artists that have significantly impacted my life. It is also sweet for me to see my very first blog post: The Beginning, where I share my hopes and wishes for this blog. 

In the past five years, I have kept on with my singing adventures, albeit, in a more intentional and focused way. I feel it is a mix of getting older, maybe wiser, and rebalancing my singing desires with diminished energy levels post-pandemic. The pandemic really overhauled how I continued to sing or not sing with all the restrictions. It is surprising to see how many masked photos I have of myself in the slideshow round-up below. 

I continue to feel an overwhelming gratitude towards this blog. Some of my closest friends began as blog readers first. If you meet me in person, you may notice that I speak more through actions than words. Reading what I am writing is the best of knowing me: my inner motivations, passions and thoughts. I sense a closeness with each reader. There is no way I can convey what I want in a quick, surface-level interaction if we were to meet in person. Thus, it means so much to me to know that you are taking your own personal time to read my content and connect with me. I have met so many fellow singers, composers, conductors, and members of my artistic community. I am moved by the flourishing and active choral scene we have here in Canada. 

While I am not sure about the future artistic endeavours coming my way, I will be sure to post some adventures here as I go. On my schedule thus far is the Canadian Chamber Choir tour in Calgary this February 2024 and Podium in Montreal this May 2024. 

Until then, please enjoy this 15 year anniversary post slideshow!

Thank-you, dear readers, for continuing to read my choral musings.

Ten Years to this Day

I am a singer.

There have been many moments in my life where I have wavered on accepting this title. But after 10 years of blogging, and over 20 years of choral singing, I know that who I am at my core is a singer. It is a huge component of my identity. Singing is an expressive means for me to communicate. While it is my pleasure to work with patients on discovering their communicative voice as a Speech-Language Pathologist, singing has always been and will continue to be my expressive mode of communication.

There is a overwhelming gratitude I feel towards the blog for holding me accountable to my passion: choral music. For the past 10 years, I have shared my thoughts while going through an artistic process and relayed these discoveries with my readers. In recent years, the blog has also developed into a platform where I am able to share the work of other singers, composers, conductors, organizations, and choirs as well. It is staggering to articulate the significance this blog has served for me, as well as others, over this past decade. I have enjoyed looking through my posts and photos to assemble some of my favorite moments. It's also exciting to look towards the future and contemplate what new projects, pieces of repertoire, singers, conductors, and composers I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting.

Please enjoy this anniversary post and my apologies in advance since I'm certain people have been missed from this sampling of content. Regardless, thank-you, dear readers, for continuing to read my choral musings.

10 Year anniversary by Sable C

Listed below are 20 significant posts on The Choir Girl Blog over the past 10 year. Many of them signal a change in my role as an artist, thinking, or direction at each chronological time point in the blog.


1. Camp: A Rite of Passage

2. We'll Sing Anywhere

3. Choir Uniforms Do's and Don'ts

4. Arrival of the Virtual Choir 2.0

5. ESO Reviews

6. Making the Cut

7. Sh*t Choristers Say-An Interview with the Vancouver Cantata Singers

8. Tweet Me. Embracing Social Media at Podium 2012

9. Opera Girl

10. Painting the Nightingale

11. The Culture of Fear in Rehearsals 

12. Epilogue: Life after the Circus  

13. Dear, Opera Chorus

14. Backstage at Madama Butterfly 

15. I'm a bit of a hippie: An Interview with Cy Giacomin 

16. Interview with the Queen of the Night and Sarastro, Teiya Kasahara and Neil Craighead 

17. Podium 2016 Social Media Team  

18. National Youth Choir Class of 2016  

19. An Interview with Jane Berry 

20. The Formation of FEMME

Welcome to the Podium Social Media Team

Greetings readers,

While things have been quiet on the blog front, don't be deceived because I am gearing up for some serious Podium Coverage. I'm even part of a social media team for the upcoming Podium Conference and Festival in Edmonton, AB this May 19-22, 2016!



Meet these three amazing team members who are coming from across Canada to converge upon Podium for social media coverage. Sessions, concerts, and parties - we will be reporting on all of these areas at the ground level. We all have a unique perspective to offer and a command of social media tools to help distribute that message. This is the time to take out your smartphone and start following us on any or all social media platforms you prefer.

Learn more about our team members in this chain interview we conducted with each other.

Missy Clarkson
Vancouver BC. Twitter: @mister_sissy. Instagram: @mistersissy

Missy Clarkson is a bisectional soprano who has been breathing choral music since her early days of study in Minneapolis, where she co-founded her first ensemble at age 15. She has lived in Vancouver, BC since 1997, and has sung with many fabulous local ensembles and educators. Her choral 'home' has been the Vancouver Cantata Singers for the last 10 years, and she co-founded and manages Canada's most flaming classical choral ensemble, Cor Flammae.

She is a tireless choral advocate over social media, and created the “hit” viral video for VCS, Shit Choristers Say, which propelled her into some strange level of nerd stardom for about 10 minutes.

Missy Clarkson est une soprano bisectionnelle qui fréquente la musique chorale depuis ses premières années d’études à Minneapolis, où elle a cofondé un premier ensemble à l’âge de 15 ans. Depuis 1997 elle habite Vancouver, C.-B., où elle a chanté avec plusieurs ensembles et éducateurs fabuleux. L’ensemble Vancouver Cantata Singers (VCS) est son « chez-soi » choral depuis 10 ans. Elle est aussi la cofondatrice et gérante de l’ensemble choral classique le plus enflammé du Canada, Cor Flammae. 

Missy défend sans relâche le chant choral sur les médias sociaux. Elle a créé pour VCS le vidéo Shit Choristers Say qui devint un « hit » viral et la propulsa dans une gloire étrange pour environ 10 minutes!

Jean-Pierre Dubois Godin chats with Missy Clarkson

1. As the co-founder of Vancouver's Cor Flammae, Canada's most flaming classical choral ensemble, can you tell us the how and the why this ensemble was formed?

As a queer person who is a major choir nerd I always felt the need to connect with both communities, however as someone with classical training I found that the existing queer singing ensembles were not quite challenging enough for my liking. We created Cor Flammae to connect these dots and explore unsung queer perspectives in classical choral music. Performing queer content with high-caliber queer musicians creates another level of connection to the stories, and it sounds good too! We want to deepen the understanding of historical and modern queer experiences for everyone. How does a rejection by mainstream society in a conservative genre impact art and career? How can we help queer music lovers and performers to feel welcome, encouraged, and invited to the choral music world, where they rarely see reflections of themselves or their journeys in popular writing and performance? We want to answer these questions through the often marginalized lens of our shared life experiences as queer musicians, and we do so in FULL regalia. Everyone can be their true selves in our rehearsals and concerts - tattoos, wigs, true gender identities, and all, while rocking out some serious high art!

2. What is your choral piece? What is your favourite canadian choral piece?

My absolute fave choral piece at the moment *is* Canadian - I am totally obsessed with Kristopher Fulton's 'The Twilight Cities' from his new debut album of the same title. Listening to it is like swimming through a graphic novel - specifically the one on which the work is based ("L'Enfant Penchée" by François Schuiten & Benoît Peeters) - it's a full, lush, cinematic sound that rumbles and shimmers. I am *totally* biased, by the way, as Mr. Fulton is a long-time close pal (we met in music school!) and I was lucky enough to be able to sing on his album. Paula Kremer and Vancouver Cantata Singers prepared it in 3 rehearsals and we basically almost died in the process, but it was so worth it. You always hear such different bits when surrounded by your fellow choristers, so hearing all the parts fully mastered in some good headphones pretty much blew my mind. It is such interesting writing - both innovative and accessible!

3. Which social media are most into right now: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or other? 

For me, they all have their specific strengths for specific purposes, but I find myself on Instagram and FB most often. Twitter is my top choice for events like Podium!

4. Is there some more Sh*t Choristers Say? Ever thought about doing a 2nd video? What are some sayings that you would add to it, if any?

Oh my gosh, since it was released at a time when a 4-minute video could actually go viral (!), it's really the equivalent of 4 videos these days! But if I did make another video there is no end to the material available!! I would probably do a dress-rehearsal-specific video.... "Where are we standing? How do we get onstage? Why are we doing it that way why not this weird other way? This acoustic is so dry! Do we bow now? How bout now? Are we currently bowing?? WHERE IS MY FOLDER???"

 

5. Is there anything you are looking forward to at #Podium2016?
 
Since this will be my very first Podium I am looking forward to literally EVERYTHING. I'm going to bask in the all sights and sounds and humans and nerdery. I expect some major facemelts from ProCoro and may need a fainting couch during Conspirare. I am unreasonably excited!

6. What is your favourite Ave Maria?
 
Ha! I would have to say it's the Biebl, which VCS performs at the end of every one of our Christmas concerts, surround-sound-styles, and the audience just bawls their adorable eyes out. I was also lucky enough to bawl my own eyeballs out hearing Chanticleer perform it a few years ago. For some reason I never get sick of singing or hearing the piece! It has a certain magic.

Miss Sable 
Edmonton, AB. Twitter: @misssable; Instagram: @misssable
 
Sable is an avid chorister as well as a Speech-Language Pathologist with an interest in Vocology. When she is not working with Voice Therapy clients, publishing choral musings on The Choir Girl blog, or drinking chai lattes, she can often be found watching Netflix and coloring in her Hipster coloring book.

Sable est une choriste passionnée ainsi qu’une orthophoniste particulièrement intéressée par la vocologie. Elle aime regarder Netflix, colorier dans son album à colorier hipster et prendre un chai latté entre ses consultations avec ses clients en thérapie de la voix et ses publications sur son blogue, The Choir Girl  

Missy Clarkson chats with Miss Sable
  
1. What ensembles do you sing with, and what is your favourite thing about singing in choirs? 

Currently, I'm singing in Pro Coro Canada's 2015-16 season and with the Edmonton Opera Chorus and Canadian Chamber Choir if my schedule allows.  

2. When and why did you create your blog, "The Choir Girl"?

I began my The Choir Girl Blog back in 2009. I have always been an avid fan of online means to share personal perspective. I first began on Livejournal with a personal account but I wanted to transition over to a public one. I knew that if I wanted to have a public blog, I would need a concept that would provide continuous inspiration. A blog focused on choral music and performance was the natural choice in my mind! It has also challenged me to highlight different Composers, Conductors, and Choirs throughout the years and showcase the excellent work they do in addition to my own musings as a chorister. 

3. What is the most interesting choral blog subject you've ever covered?

One of the topics that I see continuously come up as a highly read post in my archives is on the Culture of Fear in rehearsal. Even though the post is back from 2012, I still get a constant flow of readers and lots of interesting messages and discussions from it. I believe it was even reading material for a University level Choral Methods class so I'm glad it's a topic that helps to stimulate discussion.

4. What are you most looking forward to about Podium? 

In addition to having a rad roommate in the form of Missy Clarkson at Podium and singing with Pro Coro Canada at the Festival, I'm really looking forward to how social media can be used to cover all the conference events and give people an opportunity to be in multiple places at once just by seeing updates or comments from other sessions or concerts. It's time for a social media take-over!

5. Which social media media platform do you prefer at the moment?

My preferred social media platform right now is Instagram. I love how it gives me a visual flow of beautiful and informative images and videos. In the evenings, you can definitely find me cradling my smartphone and scrolling through Instagram to see what the world was up to that day.

6. What's your favourite Ave Maria?  

David McIntyre's "Ave Maria." It's effervescent, ethereal, and lush - what's not to like? I have great memories performing that work with Belle Canto Women's Ensemble at the Cork International Choral Festival. It's always nice to find a treble arrangement of a piece that works so well.
 
Amy Desrosiers 
Ottawa, ON. Twitter: @Mamydee; Instagram: @amydeechoir

Ever since she sang Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” at her mother’s wedding at four years old, Cornwall born mezzo-soprano Amy Desrosiers knew music was her calling. Under the direction of vocal coach Laurence Ewashko and Sonya Sweeney, Amy has developed her vocal skills in opera, jazz, and choral singing and completed a Bachelor of Music and minor in Arts Administration in 2011 at the University of Ottawa.

Amy not only adores singing with her choir family, but also loves working behind the scenes as an arts administrator and choir manager for the Capital Chamber Choir. Aside from binge watching Star Wars, she also spends her time singing with the Capital Chamber Choir, Opera Lyra Ottawa Chorus, and jazzing it up with the Jazz Lines Vocal Quartet on the National Arts Centre stage and other fun venues in the Ottawa community.

Her love of social media and writing inspired her to create her blog “Blonde in the Choir” and strives to support fun arts projects and initiatives in the Ottawa choral community.

Amy Desrosiers, une mezzo-soprano originaire de Cornwall, a chanté à l’âge de 4 ans « I Will Always Love You » de Whitney Houston au mariage de sa mère. Elle sut dès lors que la musique ferait toujours partie de sa vie. Sous la direction du coach vocal Laurence Ewashko et de Sonya Sweeney, Amy a développé ses compétences vocales en opéra, en jazz, et en chant choral. Elle a complété un baccalauréat en musique et une mineure en administration des arts en 2011 à l’Université d’Ottawa. Elle adore chanter avec sa famille de chorales et aussi travailler à l’arrière-scène comme administratrice des arts et gérante de chœur pour la Capital Chamber Choir. En plus de regarder Star Wars en rafale, elle chante sur la scène du Centre national des arts et d’autres merveilleuses salles de la communauté d’Ottawa avec le Capital Chamber Choir, le chœur d’Opéra Lyra Ottawa, et le Jazz Lines Vocal Quartet pour jazzer le tout. 

Son attrait pour l’écriture et les médias sociaux l’a inspirée à créer son blogue « The Blonde in the Choir » qui appuie les projets artistiques et les initiatives de la communauté chorale d’Ottawa.

Miss Sable chats with Amy Desrosiers

1. Why did you decide to create a Blonde in the Choir?

 I decided to create Blonde in the Choir back in the summer of 2013 because I wanted to give a voice in the Ottawa choral community. It began in the middle of Bizet’s Carmen staging rehearsals and I was truly inspired by what was happening around me. I wanted to extend my joy and passion beyond the rehearsal hall and open it to the world.
I was also compelled to share my experiences in blog posts where my readers could relate to everyday situations as a musician. Overtime, I developed my tone and began to shift my focus on interesting topics and project ideas that I believe will broaden my audience and also allow me to improve my writing style. I am always learning!

2. What were your initial thoughts when you were asked to join the Podium Social Media team?

 ESCTATIC! I was already planning on attending Podium because I felt it was time to participate in a conference that embodied my passion for music. The fact that I will be contributing to the Podium social media platform with such a great team is both a privilege and a sign that I should keep this blogging thing going!

3. What do you think is an advantage of social media that more people should be aware of? 

A huge advantage with social media is presence. I see so many choirs do very little with updating their social media platforms and it affects their following receiving crucial information on upcoming concerts. It is SO important to take time in your week to get a choir photo or reach out to your following for feedback. Trust me, people notice.

4. Which sessions/concerts are you most looking forward to at Podium?

 As for concerts, I am really excited to check out Pro Coro Canada and the Mozart Requiem choral-orchestral concert. I am familiar with Michael Zaugg’s work when he was conducting in Ottawa and look forward to seeing him again in his element with this great group!
Having sung the Mozart Requiem several times, I have never experienced the masterpiece from the audience perspective and I look forward to sitting back and losing myself in the music.
As for sessions, how do I choose!? I love all of them BUT if I had to narrow it down:
Maestra Matters: Women's Leadership in Choral Music-Making and Community-Building
Choral Therapy: How Choir Saved My Life
Programming For Your Audience

5. What are your current social media addictions? 

You will see me glued to my phone over Twitter. I’ve found so many fun blogs and people who share the same interests through Twitter more than any other social media platform. Because I manage four Facebook pages, I have very little time to devote to other platforms aside from the big three: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. My friends are slowly convincing me to get SnapChat.


Jean-Pierre Dubois-Godin

Ottawa, ON. Twitter: @jpduboisgodin

Jean-Pierre Dubois-Godin is a bass/baritone in the local Ottawa choral community. He studied Music, Arts administration, Advertising, and Marketing, in school and currently sings with the Ottawa Choral Society.

Once, Canadian choral composer Stephen Hatfield asked him for help on French lyrics on a new choral composition. This piece is now published at Boosey.

Jean-Pierre is welcoming this opportunity to be on Podium's Social Media Team as a way to get back into blogging and tweeting about local/national/international choral news (#ChoirX)

Jean-Pierre Dubois-Godin est un baryton-basse de la communauté chorale d’Ottawa. Il a étudié la musique, l’administration des arts, la publicité et le marketing, et il chante présentement avec la Société chorale d’Ottawa. Stephen Hatfield, un compositeur bien connu du milieu choral canadien, lui a déjà demandé son aide pour écrire les paroles en français d’une nouvelle composition bilingue. Cette pièce est maintenant publiée chez Boosey & Hawkes. Jean-Pierre est heureux de faire partie de l’équipe des médias sociaux de Podium, et profite de cette occasion pour alimenter son compte Twitter et son blogue (ChoirX) de nouvelles locales, nationales, et internationales du monde choral. 

Amy Desrosiers chats with Jean-Pierre Dubois-Godin 

1. What inspired you to start your blog, ChoirX? 

At the time (2011), I had recently gotten Twitter and would love to livetweet my choir rehearsals: music we were rehearsing, funny things choir directors were saying, what was going on behind-the-scenes... I enjoyed tweeting so much that I expanded its microblogging into full-on blogging. To share my eXperience as a chorister.

2. What was your favourite moment while performing on stage?

There are so many, it is so hard to choose. I can think of at least 4 right off the bat. One of the most memorable performances I did was in June 2010 when the Ottawa choirs and the NAC Orchestra were joined by the Orchestre Métropolitain and it choir, from Montreal, to perform Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, both at the National Arts Centre and the Place des Arts. A double-choir with a double-orchestra, with a "tour" to Montreal. It was a sold-out show and so amazing. Definitely and unforgettable experience.

3. What choral/opera/classical piece do you always have on repeat?

I have many. At least these 4: Stephen Hatfield's Living in a Holy City, Gabriel Fauré's Requiem, Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna, and Eric Whitacre's i thank you god for most this amazing day.

4. Why is it important for you to connect with other arts administrators and performers through social media?

Choral singing is really an intimate experience that creates relationships with people you wouldn't normally cross elsewise. Sometimes, it's like a language of its own. It's nice to find others on social media who speak the same "language" as your own.

5. What makes you most excited about attending Podium?

I'm just most excited to see and hear all these choral maestros at work: Michael Zaugg, Scott Leithead, Morna Edmundson, Robert Filion... we're in for a treat!

A Chat Amongst Choir Bloggers

After wandering the streets of Ottawa late Saturday night and unable to locate any coffee shops open after 10 PM to host an interview session fellow author of the Choir X Blog, Jean-Pierre and I wander into the Chateau Laurier and set up a work station at a lobby table. Embellished piano improv wafts in from the neighboring lounge as we prepare to take turns to interview with one another. It is time to turn the tables on bloggers who often discuss content but are rarely asked why their motivations behind it.

Jean-Pierre begins by presenting me with a copy of mosaik by Stephen Hatfield in which JP contributed French text. 

What's your fav excerpt?

The line I'm proud of is one on page 9:

"Une berceuse vaut mieux qu'une chicane"

Where it states that a lullaby is worth more than an argument. The whole theme of the piece is that we might not be able to understand each other because of our differences, yet we are able to sing together. While we can't all talk at the same time, we can sing together. Even youth all of the conflicts between national tensions between natural languages we are able to sing together.

Does this parallel how you see life?

It makes me think of Lori Anne. Her motto is "Sing, it makes you happy" and it reminds me of that. 

What was it like hearing mosaik for the first time?

I just wanted to get up there and sing with them. It's like having a child, that creative idea that is your piece but you need to let it go and let it speak to others. Now it needs to live on it's own. This isn't my piece or Stephen's piece, it is the choristers piece. 

Why do you choir blog?

To share my passion with others. I love singing in choir. I get so enthusiastic and passionate about it. It's my way of sharing my life and that Art with other people. It's promotion to get more people in the seats to come see what it is.  I do it to have that link to the choral community that's out there.  It started live tweeting during choir rehearsals. So I started out with #shitchoristerssay #shitchoirdirectorsay and I moved up 400 followers on Twitter. Clearly this is subject that rings true with other people. I'm not alone. People are following and people are interested. Blogging and tweeting 140 characters wasn't enough for me. I had more to say.  Tweeting became blogging. 

Why is the blog called Choir X?

The blog is called Choir X.  The subtitle is the basses point of view. The chorister's experience.  Also I am big on branding.  And X is more catchy than ex. It's easily recognizable. 

Were you ware you aware you were selling yourself as a blogger before creating your blogging identity?

Yes *laughs* short answer is yes. 

What do you hope to do next?

Blog post once each week. Talk about the local choir scene, national choral scene, international choral scene. Talk about people's points of view: choristers, directors, composers, and Arts administrators. 

I've been in choirs for 10+ years. On the the blog there is a resources page with a list of all clinicians, conductors, and choral ensembles I have participated in. I'd like to do some flashback pieces, what it was like to work with those people, or do a post on one certain piece that we sang and the history, context and whole emotion behind it. 

I would like to go back to conferences and festivals such as Festival 500 in Newfoundland, Podium, and Europa Cantat and cover social media from the blogging point of view. I don't want this to be a local Ottawa choir blog. As international as I can make it.  I don't want to just blog about Ottawa. The global choral community is bigger than that. 

What one of the things you're most proud of with the blog so far?

Meeting you, that's pretty cool, connecting with other choral bloggers like Laurie Ann and Amy. Finding out that I can relate to people. This is more from tweeting than blogging but reaching 400 followers. One time my friend, Andrew and I tweeted different ways to pronounce excelsis like Ek-shell-sis or Ek-tsell-sis with #choirkidproblems and it got retweeted hundreds of times. 

Anything you want to add before we turn tables? 

I'm thankful to be in a city like Ottawa where there is a National Arts Centre, Parliament, Govener General to have the opportunity to work such with such incredible conductors like Barbara Clark, Michael Zaugg, Matthew Larkin to name a few. I'm right now I'm just so thankful for these opportunities being in heavy nation's capital as a chorister. Everything in my life, I can relate to choir in one way or another.  

Read the other half of this interview project by visiting JP's Choir X blog.

#TheChoirGirl Readers!

Photo credit: Nanc P backstage at Edmonton Opera

I issued a reader challenge these past few weeks. I put out a call for all my readers to send me a pic indulging in their musical pursuits or to find me while on tour in Toronto. Here are the following pictures that people tagged with #thechoirgirl on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram or pics people have taken with me. Enjoy!

Fellow Pro Coro chorister, Cat Kubash

My Edmonton Opera crew gets creative, Laura @heartysushi, Adam @musicdeviant, Natasha @fohn_seah_kah

Madrigal Singer alumni, Mary-Ellen @M_ERayner, and Becky reunited in Toronto

Fellow Madrigal Singers alumni, Justin

Pro Coro blog readers, Carole and Gillian @gbkursch

Edmonton Opera Chorus showing off their flexibility

Opera peep, @teiyakasahara post Pro Coro concert

baby Ingrid! from Con Fuocoian, Steph

(L-R) Dawn, Nadia, Me, and Leanne 4/5 of Con Fuoco

@CanMensChoir and @VicScholars #represent

Tom from Vancouver Chamber Choir

Science Undergrad friend, Ross and Children's Choir Travel Buddy, Nicole

More #TOchoir friends from @CantabileTO with @cherpod25 and @subversible front and centre.

Friends from the Vancouver Cantata Singers @CantataSingers, soprano Missy @mister_sissy, and composer Kristopher Fulton @kristophfulton

My blog photographer collaborator, Nanc @Mad_Me

Many of my lovely ladies from Belle Canto are avid readers

Marian @madolu (The Choir Project) at her "office" with iPad, scores, and coffee nearby

Michael van der Gaag out in Charlottetown, PEI is rocking a recital

Shumka friends, Mandy @mandy_macrae, Peter and Sandra

Backstage with the Captain, @HegedusStephen

Latvian composer, Uģis Prauliņš, whom I often rave about on this blog.

Opera crew including Christina, Krista, @kswkrokkk and Steph, @thekeyofsteph

The #EOChorus crew and Nanc Price outdid themselves!

And there you have it! A sample of #TheChoirGirl readers! If you still wish to be included, send me your pic at misssable@gmail.com.

What Do Choristers Do?

Greetings readers!

You may be interested to know that I am now a guest blogger on the Sound and Noise Music Blog. Pretty cool, am I right? I will be cross-posting any entries I write for their site on this blog as well. I will also continue composing my own exclusive entries for this blog. I encourage you to visit their site and see what articles they have to offer from their passionate and diverse team of writers. Now, may I present, my premiere post for Sound and Noise:

 

Lately, the internet has been filled with variants of these enlightening photo memes which attempt to educate the naïve public on the perspectives surrounding different roles in our society. Drawing from my own personal experiences, I’ve decided to construct my own. I will discuss the following six views and the multifaceted role of the chorister.

1. What my friends think I do

I am sorry to disappoint… but I do not spend my rehearsals flirting with cute choir boys. As a choir girl who takes herself way too seriously and is terrible at emotional multi-tasking, my attention is focused on the musical task at hand. I am often oblivious to the fact that people join choir expand their pool of suitable mates. Don’t we all just want to make music together?

2. What my mom thinks I do

She’s not entirely wrong on this one.

3. What society thinks I do

First question I get when I tell people I sing in a choir is “Do you sing in a church choir?” To which I provide my default response of “No, not a church choir.” It makes sense; chorister roles began in the church to deliver the religious message of God. Thus, it is not surprising that the prototype chorister image still engrained into society is that of the church chorister. However, there is such a wide array of choristers in the world: professional, community, chamber, show… it’s important to recognize the diverse role of the chorister and how it suits the musical construct of each group.

4. What my dates think I do

Once on a date, I attempted to describe what I meant when I said I sang in a choir. When I started with outlining the basic choral components such as, “There’s a group of people and we sing music together”--- those semantic cues led him to respond with “Oh, like Glee!” Since I did not want to crush his enthusiastic self-generated response, I responded with “Kind of like Glee, but without the dancing… or the show tunes.”

5. What I think I do

Confession time: I love black gospel choirs. They are my choral rock stars. I wish I was black. I wish I could belt solos. And I wish I could uninhibitedly emerge from the choir with my arms above my head, gesticulate to an invisible overhead entity, and praise the lord in a Q&A format with the rest of the choir.

6. What I actually do

Black gospel choir dreams aside, what I actually do as a chorister in my choir is sing early, classical, romantic, folk, and contemporary repertoire, tour to national and international music festivals, record diverse repertoire, and rehearse weekly with a dedicated group of singers. No matter what construct choristers find themselves in, we are all united with a common passion and a collective voice. As a result, I think that what we do, as choristers, is pretty awesome.   

Until next time readers, take care!

A Year In

Oops! I can't believe I missed the one year anniversary of my blog! To think that January 19, 2009 is when it all began...

Though I can't say that blogging has forever changed my life, it definitely made my past year much more interesting. As well, it's a very therapeutic way to express my musical thoughts and meet awesome readers!

I was able to try my hand at electromusic composition a year ago and I posted lots of fun sound clips of my work for you all to listen to and documented my musical project progress along the way.

Blogging also gave me some amazing opportunities to attend and review excellent concerts put on by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra such as Carmina Burana and the Symphony Under the Sky Festival in Hawrelak park.

It was also an exciting time when I was the blog of note for August 20, 2009 and I had hundreds of visitors checking out my page! It was overwhelming to get that amount of traffic but it was so exciting to hear from people around the world who had the same choral passions as I.

I like to think that I was able to post a wide array of entries such as the evolution of choral uniforms to more thoughtful entries documenting my choral involvement such as my first time out at camp and my first choir rehearsal. I also hoped that you have enjoyed some of my choral tidbits for success such as faking confidence and having a successful candlelight procession :)

Overall, I just want to say thanks to all my readers for actually reading what I have to say! It's staggering to think that people actually want to read my choral thoughts! I've really tried to write my entries in an engaging way since I do believe that there are still people not completely sold on the idea of choral music. It probably doesn't help that one the only times choral music makes it way into mainstream media is when there are booming adult voices singing ominous choruses at a climactic film moment. I'm thinking of the two-on-one lighttsaber duel between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Darth Maul at the end of Star Wars Episode I.













As stimulating as the Duel of the Fates battle sequence was, choral music is so much more than loud chorus singing! Choir is such a dynamic and engaging way to unify individual voices to create an amazing acoustic texture. No choir sounds the same because no choir has the same singers. Every voice has a unique role within a choir and that results in the enjoyment of singing as well as the challenges that choirs face. While I probably don't need to change your mind per say, since you probably have been following my posts due to a personal interest in choral singing, there are still so many more people out who need to experience the addiction that is choir. However, if you, dear reader, are not a chorister but still enjoy my posts... I feel like I have done my job.

Take care and talk soon!

Blog of Note

Greetings to those of you visiting my blog for the first time! I was informed that I am a "Blog of Note" today and I thank you for coming to my blog and seeing what I have to say.

I love everything related to choral music because there is a genesis of intense musical energy when a group of singers are all focused on the same goal. It is truly amazing when you are able to feel the physical energy of the singer next to you, as you feel the silent expansion of their lungs, and the blending of multiple voices to form a unified acoustic waveform radiating towards the audience. I try to blog about choir related topics ranging from choir uniforms to unique touring experiences; however, I love all things related to music, whether it is discovering new artists or composing my own pieces, all these areas inspire my posts as well.

Thank you again for visiting and happy reading! I hope to hear your thoughts in the comment sections!